Pilot and Airplane of the Month  

Aerosmith’s

Pilot and Airplane of the month- March’.07

Mr. Nicholas Kow with Big (Electric Conversion)

Extra 260

Profile of a successful  AeroMaster..

Every month during our monthly meeting, we, at Aerosmith need to make a few hard and few easy decisions. Luckily for us we never had problem identifying pilot with special achievements here in Singapore. This month is no exception. We would like to feature Mr. Nicholas Kow, mostly for his outstanding conviction and dedication to the passion of radio aeromodelling.

Nicholas is 30 this year and is happily married with a new Star in the house. With the baby and shift schedule for work, Nick always managed to find time for his model airplanes. How he manages to juggle his time and attention is truly an art by its own right.

When Nick is not twigging with model aeroplane, he would be twigging with the real ones. He has the privilege of doing something that he loves for a living; he is a Certified Aircraft Technician for a foreign airline based in Singapore.

According to Nick, besides his beloved family, he has only one special interest, the passion of flying RC aerobatics. I cannot help but say, when I first met Nick in Woodlands about a year and a half ago, he had just started flying RC, and I still remember his wing dragon. We are crazy about the hobby enough that we often meet at 7.30am on weekdays to fly. In the short period of time since then, Nick has become quite an RC Pilot. He held the fastest pusher jet record for the longest time in Woodlands, had the most aerobatic Formosa 2 and now the biggest and most impressive scale electric aerobatic aircraft. Who can forget the 1 to 2 feet off the ground jet fly-bys and low knife edges. Without a doubt, Nick has developed to be an aerobatic pilot with great credibility, purely driven by the passion of pattern flying.

The only difficulties observed by Nick are technical challenges during his pursue of the ultimate aerobatic maneuver like knife edges or wing overs. When it comes to pricing in Singapore, the equipment that he needs is rather expensive. As such he often gets his equipment from overseas via online purchasing, from Hong Kong in particular.

Similar to all other caliber RC pilots that we have interviewed, Nick would also like to see more organized RC competitions and events in Singapore. To the question of where he gets his technical info, Nick answered the internet and from various building specifications. Nick’s all time favorite aircraft is the EDGE 540.

As for comments for new comers, he has only one thing to say, “Watch out for Safety”. This point cannot be over emphasized, especially with electric planes and helis. Even with the most advanced state of the art ESCs with various safety features, propeller and rotor blade related injuries are still common occurrences. ‘Please be careful.’                                 

            With that, we would like to grant Mr. Nicholas Kow the honorary title of Aerosmith Aeromaster for the month of MARCH. Congratulations! We have known Nicholas for quite a while now. He is most friendly and is always willing to help. His sense of selflessness and safety are most commendable. In a short period of time, due to his commitment, he has grasped all the basic concept of the black art of flight and developed to be an outstanding RC pilot. His aerobatic skills have improved to a point that when he flies, everybody else would land their planes and just enjoy the spectacle. Keep up the good work and Congratulations again.

With this honour, Nick would enjoy additional 10% discount* on all his purchases made during the applicable month.

*discount is applicable to items that are not on special promotion.

The plane…..Electric Conversion Extra 260

For the Plane of the month, March, Nick’s Electric Extra 260 gets the spot. It’s an ARF kit by seagull models (www.seagullmodels.com). The 2m span model comes complete at a reasonable price. The plane is of traditional construction, balsa and (shrinkcote) coverings making it very light and strong.

              The kit was designed for 60 size glow or equivalent. To convert it to electric, Nick has installed Aeronut 5330-430 brushless motor swinging an 18*10 APC propeller. And to power all these hardware, the plane carries 6s-2p 4400mah lipo packs from Aeronut as well.

            It is obvious the plane comes quite detailed. This is one of those planes that looks good just sitting on the ground. One can almost feel the sense of speed and excitement just by looking at it on the ground.

            In the air the plane flies normally with no bad characteristic. It performs all basic aerobatic and until the time this interview was conducted, Nick has completed 2 successful, fun flights. He is slowly but surely opening up the flight envelope. Due to its handling characteristic we would recommend this plane to all intermediate to advanced pilots. It requires almost no building; it is one of those planes packed for immediate and instant gratification. However with its balsa construction, repairs might be challenging. She does look a million-dollar in the air…Happy flying!

            Thank you to all who participated in this monthly column. The overwhelming positive responses from local and international enthusiasts have been most encouraging. We are going to continue our effort and commitment to support the hobby the best we can.

            Thank you again.

Aerosmith-hobby Team.

**Aerosmith-hobby does not carry this plane in our stock however we do carry applicable accessories**

All enquires contact  +65 6534 2003/ +65 94314525 or email aerosmithhobby@gmail.com
Overseas enquires  pls email aerosmith_hobby@yahoo.com.sg 

@ Copyright 11 Nov 2006  Aerosmith Hobby