Steven Robinson’s right arm was torn off by another rider’s footpeg during a collision over 30 years ago, and attempts to rebuild his limb proved unsuccessful.
Since his crash, Steven, 51, has never worn a prosthetic arm but he realised he would need one if he wanted accomplish his lifelong dream of getting his private flying licence.
Despite trying out several types from the NHS, the motivational speaker soon discovered they weren’t going to do the job, so he set out to make his own - designing and building it all from scratch.
Now, after almost a year hard at work, Steven, who fixes vintage jukeboxes in his spare time, has a working prototype which was signed off by an aviation medical examiner two weeks ago – and he reckons it makes him look like RoboCop.
This means he will be able finally get his solo flying hours and, all being well, his licence.
At the age of 18 in 1982, a mid-air crash on his bike left Steven critically ill with damaged lungs, spleen and liver, a broken leg and most crucially, a severed arm.
His torn-off limb was found 100 metres away, too damaged to reattached, and his missing body part changed his life forever.
Steven, from Leeds, West Yorks., said: “The day of the accident was the day my life changed for ever, but surprisingly it was a positive thing.”
Despite being so afraid of flying as a young man he had to have a course of hypnotherapy to even board a plane, on a whim Steven applied to the Flying Scholarships for Disabled People (FSDP) – and in 2012, was accepted.
But when he started flying in 2012, the prosthetic limb he had fell off each time he tried to operate the joystick, making flying as a one-armed pilot impossible.
Undaunted, he scrapped the false arm, and decided he would solve the problem himself.
He suspended his lessons until he could make himself a new arm that was up to the job.
He tried out two arms the NHS had given him but found he couldn’t use them to fly. He had flown co-pilot for several months without a prosthetic, but he needed the new arm to fly solo.
Steven believes that a number of ‘unique features’ make his #200 arm stand out from anything else at present.
He said:.“It looks pretty impressive. I look a bit like RoboCop.”
Steven explained that his arm has a quick-release shoulder socket, which means if he gets in trouble he can get out of his arm quickly.
Steven now needs to fly ten hours solo and carry out various
navigation tests before he is a fully-qualified pilot.
“With passion, determination and the right attitude you can
achieve anything you put your mind to.”
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