Cai Jiasheng (left) shakes hands with Frits Brink, president of the World Air Sports Federation, during the 2017 World Fly-in Expo held in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province from Nov 4 to 7. The expo attracted more than 1,000 athletes and hundreds of exhibitors from 37 countries and regions with some 1,000 aircraft displayed. [Photo/sxrb.com]

Cai Jiasheng, a middle school student from Taiyuan, Shanxi province, distinguished himself by his performance of a model airplane stunt during the 2017 World Fly-in Expo held in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province from Nov 4 to 7.

The 14-year-old boy from Taiyuan No 5 Middle School used a model of a J-10 fighter jet, a major fighter of China’s air force and a special plane for acrobatics of Chinese Air Force's August 1st Air Demonstration Team. Jiasheng flew his craft on behalf of the national model airplane performance team at the World Fly-in Expo.

"Jiasheng's skills in controlling the model J-10 fighter jet are almost close to the skill level in operating a real J-10 fighter," said an attendee at the expo.

Given his age, Jiasheng's performance was of great interest to Frits Brink, president of the World Air Sports Federation. Brink went to the scene of the stunt and talked with Jiasheng about the model plane’s performance and what it was like to control it, presenting him with a gold emblem of the World Air Sports Federation for encouragement.

The rising star in the field of model airplane stunt-flying owes his success to having cultivated the hobby from his childhood and the guidance of his family, teachers and friends. Cai started learning operating turbojets from his father out of interest when he was very young and has won awards in many competitions, such as a 7th place finish in the Karamay's model airplane preliminary for the 13th National Games and two first prizes in the Shanxi leg of the 2017 National Areomodelling Open Tournament.

"I got these achievements not only because of my efforts but also due to the help of my family, especially my father, teachers and classmates," said Jiasheng.