An expensive RC affair

Swapna M

A 21-year-old Hyderabadi student, Chetan Desai, has an interest that does not quite come under the ‘general’ category. His fascination lies in creating aero planes. Every great innovator and thinker has his own list of failures and it was these failures that inspired them to do better and break the barriers of normalcy. Chetan too was inspired when his first RC plane managed to crash land.

The very crash of the plane made Chetan think about developing safety measures for the aircraft. After several efforts, he managed to create two air planes, both of which have seen good air time. For him, it is not an irritant when his idea fails or does not work out as planned, instead he finds it a interesting and relishes the challenge of coming up with innovative and useful ideas.

Chetan says, “Ever since childhood, I have always had an affinity towards radio controlled gadgets. But converting such an unusual passion into a hobby was very difficult. Initially when I got hooked onto RC planes, I was unsure of the right technique of controlling them so unfortunately I ended up crash landing my aircraft. Sadly, this was not a one-time thing. Later, I came across India’s largest RC store, ‘Jackshobbies’. Seeing my passion in RC controlled objects, my uncle had referred this store to me. I bought my RC Cessna, and with the guidance of all the group members I learnt how to fly an RC air craft properly.”

He adds, “Flying an RC plane is not an easy task, it is a highly challenging sport. The planes used in this hobby are not the common China ones found in the market. The machines have nitro powered engines of various sizes and have an incredible flight radius. These planes, helicopters, quadrotors have a myriad uses, they can be used for video surveillance (as shown in the popular flick, 3 Idiots), spraying of pesticide, crop dusting and many countries also use them for drone surveillance.”