Pathway: Nicolas Burrows

Pathway: Nicolas Burrows

By Taryn Pemberton

Young, motivated, and inspiring are a few words that describe 18 year old, Nicolas Burrows. Born into an aviation-minded family, Nicolas spent much of his upbringing watching his father, Matt Burrows, both fly and work as an aircraft mechanic holding an Inspection Authorization. Nicolas was inspired at a very young age by watching shows such as “How It’s Made” and “Mythbusters”, which he believes was a beginning element toward engineering and building.

Nicolas spent a great amount of time at the hangar, under the mentorship and tutelage of his father, learning the ins and outs of mechanics. Matt designed and built a biplane, dubbed Climax, during Nicolas’ formative years. This is part of what sparked his interest in building remote control (RC) airplanes beginning in elementary school. Nicolas was fortunate to be able to take a woodworking class as well as a robotics class in elementary school, which proved useful during his RC building days. He began with models made from foam, then began more difficult models that relied on his ability to make aerodynamically accurate airfoils out of wood following plans. The last RC plane that he built was a 1/3 scale L-4 that was equipped with STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) modifications. He was two months

away from completion when a windstorm destroyed his father’s hangar where his model was being stored.

After that, Nicolas decided that if he was able to build such an intricate model, he could move on to building his own airplane. Luckily, through the oversight of his father, he would have the support he needed to insure everything was done safely. He commenced searching on YouTube for various aircraft kits and stumbled onto the Legal Eagle XL. Deciding that was the project, he asked for the building plans as a gift for his 14th birthday. He spent the next few months researching, and set about building his first wing rib on January 13, 2015. He spent time building the needed individual parts, and after completing those, he embarked on assembling wing ribs. He would wake up early before school started and glue one side of the rib together leaving it to dry in a jig while at school. Upon returning home for the day, he would flip it over, glue the other side, and let it dry overnight. In the course of a month, he had built all of the ribs needed for the Legal Eagle XL project. In August 2017, Nicolas started gluing spars, and by April 4, 2018, he completed the entire wing kit and assembly. Next, it was onto aluminum tail feathers and assembling the steel tube

fuselage. His dad, Matt, helped him weld together the fuselage over Christmas break 2016, and he was able to test fit the tail feathers on the fuselage on April 6, 2018.

He decided that if he was going to build an airplane, he should probably learn to fly. He began flying lessons with CFI Addison Pemberton in a Piper Super Cub and transitioned over to a Citabria that his father purchased. He soloed on his 16th birthday in the Citabria in October 2016, and just completed his private pilot checkride on August 12, 2018.

As of right now, Nicolas is working through his senior year of high school taking an Aerospace Engineering class where he is learning 3D printing skills, modeling using AutoCAD and Inventor 3D, and introductory wind tunnel skills. The AutoCAD skills proved useful as he was able to model the nose ribs for the wings of his Legal Eagle XL and then utilize a CNC router to cut them out. Upon graduation, he will be seeking a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. The Legal Eagle project is over half way done with the labor intensive pieces completed. He hopes to have it fully finished and flying next summer.