Quique Somenzini is a professional
radio controlled aircraft
A radio-controlled aircraft (often called RC aircraft or RC plane) is a small flying machine that is controlled remotely by an operator on the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter. The transmitter continuously communicates with a receiver ( ...
pilot and designer, owner of model manufacturer QuiQue's Aircraft Company and the 2007
FAI world champion.
A native of Rio Cuarto,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, Somenzini has the distinction of being the youngest competitor in the history of the FAI championships, flying in competition in 1979 at the age of twelve. His father, Mario, is a former champion as well and introduced Somenzini to the hobby of model aircraft flight at the age of nine.
Somenzini has since become one of the top R/C pilots in the world - he was Argentina's national champion 21 times - and is credited with the invention of so-called "3-D" flying, characterized by tight loops, rolls and hovers at little to no forward
airspeed
In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are:
* Indicated airspeed ("IAS"), what is read on an airspeed gauge connected to a Pitot-static system;
* Calibrated a ...
.
On November 18, 2007, Somenzini earned the title of FAI F3A world champion at the 25th FAI World Championship in Argentina, marking the first time he had earned the title.
In addition to his accomplishments as an R/C pilot, Somenzini is also a model aircraft designer with his own company, QuiQue's Aircraft Company of
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...
USA where he makes his present home. He is also a product tester and sponsored pilot for
Spektrum and
JR, both divisions of
Horizon Hobby
Horizon Hobby, LLC. is an American international hobby product distributor, headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, United States. It currently manufactures various hobby-grade radio-controlled (RC) models, as well as Athearn model trains and die ...
as well as for Team RCU, the competitive arm of RCUniverse.com, a major online radio control site.
External links and references
Somenzini's bio at RCUniverse.comArticle on Somenzini's FAI win at Spektrumrc.com
Living people
Model aircraft
Year of birth missing (living people)
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