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In the winter of '08/'09 Mike built a radio control flying B-17, complete with 4 working electric motors. It was a thing of beauty, and he looked forward to flying it.
Here it is in the classic "Man Holding Airplane" shot.
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He worked up a breadboard to test all of his connections and controls.
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The frame was balsa wood, an interesting subject in its own right. (Note the appropriateness of the display stand)
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Near completion.
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And here is a closeup of the nose.
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This was a Guillows 39" wingspan kit designed for display or for flying on a control line in a circle with 2 gas motors. The conversion to electric radio control has been done before.
The day finally came. He flew it for the first time. The model was very badly out of trim. He flew for about 5 minutes and made a successful landing. About 4 days later after some adjustments to the model it was flown again. After 30 seconds in the air, a slight trim adjustment was made. The model flipped over suddenly and smashed to the ground.
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All the electronics survived, except for one electric motor. He has another identical kit but hasn't had the heart to start it yet.
Like I said, sometimes the bear wins.
Wow, I can't imagine the patience required to build something of that complexity only to have it smash to bits. :eek:
I hope future builds if he has the heart for it, last a lot longer!
I fly RC so I know how he feels, hours of work lost in a moment of time. It's still a fun hobby though so I hope he gets back to it.
Mike wanted me to update you on this. He let it sit for a year. He's finally started to rebuild it. Photos of the work in progress.
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