I'd suggest adding a relay-circuit to heat up nichrome wire.
It could also be done by driving an heavy transistor, finding the right one may take some time and
you probably want to be sure that it works/won't fry while flying.
I'm more interested in digital as power related stuff though, perhaps it could... be done just as well with the right transistor.
Without relay you could use a similar circuit and connect the nichrome wire where the coil of the relay is located.