Flying a Giant Scale Model of Russian Thunder

There’s nothing quite like flying a radio-controlled model of your own full-scale aircraft. As someone who grew up passionate about R/C airplanes and eventually turned that passion into owning real aerobatic aircraft, getting to fly a giant scale model of Russian Thunder brings everything full circle.

R/C flying has always been a part of my life. I founded RC Groups, one of the largest online communities for radio-controlled aircraft enthusiasts, and later acquired Knife Edge Software, the developers of RealFlight simulator. But no matter how much I’ve been involved in the hobby from the business side, the pure joy of actually flying these models never gets old.

When you spend countless hours in the cockpit of a full-scale aerobatic airplane, you develop an intimate understanding of how it moves through the air. Translating that to a scale model lets you see your airplane from a completely different perspective. Watching a miniature version of Russian Thunder perform the same maneuvers I fly in the real thing is a uniquely satisfying experience.

If you’re curious about the full-scale Russian Thunder, check out the dedicated page about my Yakovlev Yak-54.