Friday 26 / April / 2024
Muscat: An Omani innovator is flying high with his unique wireless aircraft designs.
Mohammed Al Raisi has been designing aircraft made of simple household materials since he was 12 years old. His aircraft designs come in various forms such as a bicycle, a boat, a bus, and even a witch on a broomstick.
The 27-year-old Omani artist flew his first aircraft at the age of 18. Speaking to Times of Oman about his talents, Al Raisi said: “The first aircraft I made took two months, it fell many times, but once I saw it flying I became more excited to continue creating my own aircraft.”
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Al Raisi creates the aircraft designs from simple household items such as wood, cork and other tools and orders the electronic parts from abroad.
“Many people ask me to make certain models for them, but I prefer to teach people how to make them rather than giving them the aircraft ready, so I offer lectures and courses to everyone, whether students from schools, universities, colleges, and for different age groups.”
The wireless aircraft that I create are different from the drones aircraft as it weighs less and they do not have any cameras so they are considered legal.
Al Raisi specialises in business administration and marketing, which is far from his hobby, but his love of wireless aircraft is what prompted him to expand his skills and practice more professionally.
International hobby
“Wireless aircraft is an international hobby but it isn’t very common in the Sultanate. Nowadays it started to spread between young people,” Al Raisi added, “I want people to know about creating aircraft through my designs”
Al Raisi did not take any courses to learn his craft, preferring online video clips and learning by making mistakes.
“People’s interactions with the videos I post of my work on social media has been great and unexpected. One of my videos exceeded 3 million views on Facebook, the video shows the skill in controlling aircraft in narrow spaces, I did not expect that much praise and encouragement of my work,” Al Raisi said.
Al Raisi either uses his imagination to create the various designs of aircraft or recreates some famous characters.
“There are two types of wireless aircraft, one that you buy ready and one that you make yourself,” said Al Raisi.
“I decided to make these aircraft myself, and many people think that creating this type of aircraft is difficult, but it is easy if you abide by the rules of aviation. You will be able to manufacture any wireless aircraft you can think of.”
He explained that some models take years to complete while some others need just a few weeks.
“It depends on the type of aircraft and the accuracy of its details, for example, the witch on the broom aircraft took me two weeks to create,” Al Raisi said.
Al Raisi has won many competitions, including the first place in the Oman Airplane Championship, first place at the Kuwait Championship for aircraft under the weight of 200 grams, first place in the Omani talent competition at Sultan Qaboos University, and plaudits from aircraft manufacturers.
According to Al Raisi, this hobby is suitable for people of all ages.
“I know people that are teenagers who love this hobby and I also know some who are over the age of 60 who are still creating wireless aircraft,” he said.
