The SkyLab, HabalHabal and the like, Filipino Ingenuity at its Best

The Skylab according to Wikipedia "was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched, initially unmanned, by a modified Saturn V rocket, and weighed about 77 metric tons in orbit by itself.^[1] Three manned missions to the station, conducted between 1973 and 1974 by an Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) atop the smaller Saturn IB, each delivered a three-astronaut crew. During that time, an additional Saturn IB was on standby for rescuing those in orbit.
Numerous scientific experiments were conducted aboard Skylab during its operational life, and crews were able to confirm the existence of coronal holes in the Sun. Thousands of photographs of Earth were taken, and records for human time spent in orbit were extended. Plans were drawn up to refurbish and reuse Skylab, using the Space Shuttle to boost its orbit and repair it; however, in 1979, before the shuttle was ready, Skylab reentered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated, with debris striking portions of Western Australia."

The reentry was a big media event in 1979. In the Philippines people were scared that the debris would cause massive damage and death. I remember as kids we were told to stay indoors all day everyday even a month after the reentry. I think in other parts of the world most people would no longer remember this event some may never even know it happened. In the Philippines however it made such a big impression we named a people transporter after it. Behold the Philippine SkyLab.

It definitely takes skill to drive one but it also takes skill and lots of guts to ride one! Imagine your feet hovering just inches above the pavement or a rough road or worse over nothing when you traverse a small bridge! The one you see here is a small version. There are "models" that seat 2 each side and 2 more at the back.

Crazy you would say but economical is how most view this transport. And aside from that no one need to compete for riding shotgun. You can have all five facing front. In the Philippines you don't need to go to a show to watch daredevils perform. Just take a road trip south of Manila. 

I really think this invention should be as well acclaimed as the karaoke among the ingenious Filipino creations.

While in the subject of modified motorcycle powered transport there is another one called Habal-Habal which you would find servicing towns in Southern Mindanao. It simply extends a 3-seater into an 8-seater motorcycle. One would seat on the gas tank and then 6 others would seat behind the driver where the seat has been extended to accommodate all of them. I leave you with a Visayas version of a modified Motorcycle. I hope someday someone would send me pics of the convertible/topdown motorcycles of Davao which I failed to capture. In the meantime imagine a huge Starbucks outdoor umbrella atop a tricycle that could be removed anytime.