Written by AMA staff (02/2009), BL (09/2011); Transcribed by JS (05/2011)
Nick Maxwell
Nick Maxwell is the recipient of a $5,000 Telford Scholarship. A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Nick has been a modeler since the age of 4. His first experience with model aviation was shared with his father. Nick’s first building attempts were mounting motors in foam airplanes and tossing them into the air.
As his knowledge and experience grew, Nick started building and flying fun-fly models and continued on to Pylon Racing. He discovered helicopters at age 10 and now builds and flies both. Nick attended high school at Bishop Dwenger where he played varsity tennis. He made the All City team his freshman year. He participated in USTA tennis tournaments from age 10-16. Nick worked for Phil’s Hobby Shop from 2005-2007. He helped with inventory and ran the cash register. Nick also had the opportunity to use his aeromodeling skills by working on airplane and helicopter repairs at the shop.
From seventh grade through his senior year, Nick put in countless hours of community service. He volunteered his time raking leaves, mowing, cleaning gutters, washing windows, running errands, and transporting elderly to the store. He also worked at St. Patrick’s Closet, an organization that provides free clothing and small household items for low-income people. In addition to his community service, Nick has conducted many model airplane and helicopter demonstrations for Young Eagles, Boy Scouts, and various other schools and groups throughout the Fort Wayne area.
Nick has been a member of AMA since 1994. During this time, he has competed in numerous events including the National Aeromodeling Championships in helicopters and Pylon Racing, XFC, E-Fest, and the Micro Heli Cup.
His model aviation talents did not go unnoticed, and Nick is now sponsored by Miniature Aircraft USA, Futaba, Flight Power Batteries, V-Blades, and Dietrich Aircraft. In 2008, the Academy of Model Aeronautics launched its AMA All Stars Team and asked Nick to join as one of the first members.
Nick’s American Sign Language teacher, Dawn Lacy, wrote this about him: “Nick has serious long-term goals and has already worked several years to accomplish those goals. Even while in middle school and high school, he has achieved major awards competing among much older adults. He is a motivated role model whom many others can look up to.”
Nick will be attending Indiana-Purdue University of Fort Wayne, majoring in mechanical engineering. He wants to pursue a career in model aviation.
Congratulations, Nick.
Triple the Extreme: Interview with Nick Maxwell
Nick Maxwell is a nice young man; he always seems to be smiling and to have a great attitude. With his skills, he should be.
He is from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and at the age of 18 is still a high school student. He is going to attend IPFW, an Indiana University/Purdue University extension, and study mechanical engineering. The school is going to be roughly five minutes from his flying field, so he hopes to keep his skills sharp.
The first year Nick participated in the XFC two years ago, he finished last. For the 2008 contest – his third- he started practicing fairly seriously several months ago, every day, putting in three to four flights a day. He said that if he flew more, he tended to get stale and the practice was unproductive.
This year, Nick finished third in helicopter and ninth in airplane, and he flew a helicopter in the team event, which he entered with Jason Danhakl. Nick flew using aircraft he didn’t have much time on. His airplane was a 38% Great Planes Extra 220 ARF, and he built it per the instructions. Nick said it seemed to be rigid and flew well.
His helicopter was a prototype Excel 90, and his backup machine was the new Bandit 50. Nick felt that the 90 was light and precise, which made the response nice and made it easier on his thumbs.
Nick thanks Futaba, Miniature Aircraft USA FlightPower, V-Blades, and Dietrich Aircraft. He specifically thanks his parents; without them, he wouldn’t be able to participate in the XFC and his modeling activities. -Ben Lanterman
This page is a text transcription of the original document, made automatically and may contain errors. .