Backyard Genius: Getting disabled people upwardly mobile

'Virtual skyhook' inventor Brian Spensley shows Mactec Aerospace's Gavin Bath how his Skyhook works. Picture / Simon Baker

If Brian Spensley's invention succeeds, it could help solve a long-running row between Air New Zealand and disabled groups.

The controversy is over the airline's policy that wheelchair users who need two people to lift them in and out of airline seats must provide one support person themselves.

Some disabled people say the policy effectively stops them from flying.

By his own admission, Brian Spensley is "definitely a nutter - but not a backyard nutter".

He is "not mechanically minded" and considers himself "a problem solver rather than a hands-on tinkerer".

There's no cluttered workbench or crowded shed at Brian's place, because he's a "virtual inventor".

"I like to improve things, or find new ways to do them," says the man who has spent 16 years with Air New Zealand's customer service section. "I don't like the status quo too much. I always live outside the square."

This restless compulsion to change things has caused the odd ripple at work when Brian's had a eureka moment and suddenly rearranged a procedure or redesigned an office.

But his latest brainwave, Skyhook, is likely to get a much warmer reception. If it goes into production, Skyhook should be a boon for backs and a blessing for airline staff, as well as passengers who can leave home but can't leave a wheelchair.

At present, helping those travellers into an aisle seat (the only ones they can occupy) is an arduous business. The height of the seat backs makes it very hard to lift someone, especially if he or she is heavier than the carrier.

Brian says not only do a lot of people get sore backs, "it's also very easy for the passengers to get damaged too. Their skin's very sensitive and it can be ripped off when they're moved."

Brian's solution was simple. The Skyhook was inspired by the trolleys hotels use to carry suitcases and evolved so it now looks more like a straddle crane.

It also incorporates a mechanical hoist which can be used manually or with an electric pump, as well as "a big sling, like the ones they use in hospitals".

Skyhook's wheels also turn 90 degrees "so it can be pushed in and straddle the seat. That's a key part."

Brian took his drawings to Mactec Aerospace, a Christchurch company specialising in airport equipment manufacture, which was sufficiently impressed to build a prototype at its own expense.

After trials with a paraplegic group using the Air New Zealand simulator at Auckland Airport, Mactec's Mark 1 model was modified and improved.

"The Mark 2 is slimmed down. And it's smaller and prettier."

It's also creating a deal of interest.

"Air New Zealand's very keen to look at it," says Brian, adding that the airline will soon decide if it's willing to invest. "And Jet Star and Virgin in Australia both want to get hold of a prototype to play with."

For now, Brian is like a lot of other inventors - stuck in limbo between prototype and product, unsure if the market will endorse his idea.

If it does, he will start work on the next variants: one with a detachable sling that will take someone from carpark to destination, and also a portable, collapsible version specifically designed for paraplegic sports teams.

Wheelchair row

* If Brian Spensley's invention succeeds, it could help solve a long-running row between Air New Zealand and disabled groups.

* The controversy is over the airline's policy that wheelchair users who need two people to lift them in and out of airline seats must provide one support person themselves.

* Some disabled people say the policy effectively stops them from flying.