Interview: Christian Rose
The person behind the pilot

This was the first time, when we created an interview with someone to introduce him, to know more about the person behind the pilot. Christian is our "guinea pig" as we are doing this first time. Feedbacks are welcome. If you like it, we promise, we will have more.

Christian is one of the known characters of the German community. He is 40 years old, and influenced by the hobby for decades. He was an active competing pilot between 1998 and 2011 in F3C, then he turned to the recreational flying. He is more an F3C and soft 3D pilot focusing on the precise manoeuvres rather than smack pilot.

Christian has three children and Jenny, his wife, a loving family in Bavaria, Germany. His other "hobbies": volunteer firefighter / medical staff

Christian was kind and the first replying to all our questions.

Thank you for being ready for this interview. First: When did you take off first time and what was that? What motivated you to starting it?

Oh it's a pleasure. And also a long story: since my childhood with about 2 years I became fascinated when the local EMS helicopter a BO-105 flew over our house and even did land. So the basic interest in helicopters started very early. My dad was flying RC planes and for about 15 years, when I was getting involved with RC helis. Planes never were an option. My first heli was a Robbe Futura SE.

Do you still own that heli?

Unfortunately not, I sold it years ago.

How many helicopters do you have now?

Two - both are XLPower Specter 700.

We know what started you to fly. What motivates you now?

It's the pure fascination about flying. Between 1997 and 2011 I participated at F3C contests and liked the precision very much. Even today I practice to fly the acrobatics as precise and soft as possible.

Do you have down periods - when you think "It's time to take the transmitter down and look after something else"?

Only one short time period. My dad was my biggest mentor and helper at contests. Unfortunately he had a terrible accident in 2011 and died after four month of being in a state of coma due to massive brain haemorrhage. This period was hard but I know, my dad never wants me to stop flying.

You have three children. How old are they?

My oldest son is 10, my daughter is 4 and my little son is 22 months.

Are they interested in your hobby on a more serious level?

My oldest son is more fascinated by RC planes, and I got him a simple motor glider to get started. My daughter likes also to go to the flying field, but my little one just even want to go down the basement, in my hobby room to look after the helicopters. He stands at the stairs and points down and even bring me my shoes to go down to the hobby room with him.

Do you regret that Jamie chose fixed wings? Did you ever try to push him towards helis?

I have no problem that Jamie chooses planes - I never intend to push my children in something they did not like.

You taught him to fly. Didn't you? How did you do it? How motivated him on the down sides? Have you got any trick which can be useful to beginners?

The plane is not finished yet and a club mate will help him with buddy boxing. He likes the planes more and watches my club friends flying them.
For beginners it's good to start with small and very easy to fly indoor helis to get a feeling about the control and the reaction of a heli in general. Simulators will also help. Don't try to fly like a professional pilot of the latest YouTube video after you can only hover. Practice to fly precise, after you can handle all for sides of hover, practice to fly straight lines and then start with the basics like turn, loop and rolls. Do not hurry! Practice, practice, practice. And also do not go flying when you are not feeling well or having your thoughts on your family or your job. You need a big amount of concentration - especially in the beginning.

It sounds as you had bad experience you might not proud of...

Not for myself, but I have seen enough "incidents" from other pilots. My father was a very good guide and teaches me about flight safety from the early beginning

What was your biggest "shock"? Like an unforeseen technical issue?

It was when still nitro Helis and 35Mhz frequency band were more popular. around 2001 I lost a helicopter due to massive radio glitches and it crashes in a corn field. After the search I had a severe asthma because of a allergical reaction because of the pollen of the corn. My father brought me to hospital and got emergency treatment.

As we are at the past again, you started with Robbe and you fly XLPower now. What were your well beloved models between them?

My all-time favorite were my Hirobo F3c ship (also sold it 2011 - were Eagle EP 3 SWM) and the Hirobo Freya Twister 3D model.

You are from the generation of flybar. Flybar or flybarless?

Definitely flybar. I liked the hovering behavior more, but after a few tests and some parameter tuning, my Futaba CGY 760R is also hovering very well.

You were competing before, but you don't compete anymore. Do you?

No, because family and also my job are more important. But perhaps in the future again...

What was your most memorable - not necessarily the best - competition result?

3rd place in a F3C competition in 2006. It's the most memorable and one of the best results because the competition started with heavy rain and it was really cold. In the afternoon the sun comes out and the temperature got really hot.

Now you are a father first, a working professional second, and an RC heli pilot third. What's your profession?

I work as a nurse in an intensive care unit, especially for patients with massive neurological and respiratory deficits.

Have you ever met serious modelling injury in your work?

No - thanks God.

And how do you balance between your family life, your work and the hobby - even with your children? How often can you fly?

My work shifts are 12 hours. So there are enough free days to be with my loved ones. As for flying, I look to fly at least 1 or 2 days per week for about 3 to 6 flights / day. Weather and also the shifts are the limiting factors for flying. My wife allows me enough time for my hobby. Big thanks to her.

Do you have any family conflicts because of your hobby? "You bought something again" or similar?

No, there are no problems.

Let's turn back to helis. We know, you are Egodrift fan and you fly XLPower. What are the reasons? Do you have any other preferences or "comes whichever comes first"?

My choice to fly Egodrift is based on the excellent quality of the motors on the one side and on the other side on the fact, that the Egodrift family is not limited to business only but also very good friendship. To choose the XLP Specter 700 was very easy: the helicopter is high quality and very durable. Also the costs are affordable.

Then let's talk about the future. How do you see the hobby and yourself in the hobby in 5-10 years time?
5 to 10 years is a long time, but I assume the LiPo / battery technology will advance more and we have faster charging and longer flight times. As for myself: I will continue to help other pilots as I already do since years, I want also practice to improve my skills and I assume I never loose the fun about flying. As for now, I work on a Canopy design for myself and my good friend Krisztian Nagy.

Thank you very much.