Well, I've gone and done it. Isaw a brand new Guillow's B-17 on Craigslist and Icouldn't help myself. After thinking about it for a week and doing some research, Ihad discovered that these are fun kits to build and turn into great RC planes. I know they are quite challenging due to their size and complexity (for their size), but every bit rewarding for it. So Ibought the kit and have continued reseraching the details of the build before Istart building. So Idecided to start a thread to share my progress, challenges and to ask for help, as Im' sure I'll need it.

This is certainly not my first build, so I feel quite comfortable biting this project off. Not to mention that Iam a mech/aero engineer when Im not tinkering with the RCstuff... But here's where Iam so far, and the questions Iam currently looking to answer.

Power: Brushless - 4 motors ~ 9-10 oz thrust each to be very conservative. Something similar to an E-Flite Park 250. Each with a 10A ESC. Still deciding on exactly what motor/esc's any recomendations? I've checked out some of the Motrolfly, MicroDan, Trinitiy, and other types on Hobbycity... (and of course Hacker, scorpion and the other nicer/expensive ones)
Batteries:A final decision will be made based on motor selection, but Iam thinking 2 x 3S ~1000mah packs (one for each wing)
Servos: 8g servos HS-55 or S75s (I have a bunch from old projects)
Retracts: Not sure about this yet. I've seen some posts on rcgroups that included them, but didn't mention what they were. However, they did mention they were a big PITA (what retracts aren't?!)
Flaps: IKNOW it doesn't need them. IKNOWit will add complexity. But IkNOW it WILLlook so much cooler... Ihaven't seen anyone do this on a Guillow's B-17 yet though... anyone?
Sheeting: Ithink some sheeting is a good idea. Iplan to do a lot of lightening so there will need to be some re-strengthening to compensate. Iwas thinking some thin (1/32 or 1/16) sheeting on the empenage and wing would be a good idea to add stiffness and will help the appearance when its covered.
Covering: This one I'm really not so sure about. I want to be pretty scale with the plane, so color is required. Use the tissue and dope it? Use some sort of plastic covering (monokote/ultracote derivative, solite, microlite, etc?)
Hardware: Most likely dubro 2-56 in combination with CF rods (for torque-tubes, push rods)
Wheels: Du-Bro 2" Super lite wheels for the mains, Not sure about the tail - depends on how the tailwheel is set up (retracts, steering etc)... any suggestions?

In general Iam estimating that my finished weight will be under 30 oz. I'm aming for that just for conservatism, but hope to be in the 26oz range. Anyways, I'd appreciate any thoughts or insight from other builders experiences. Thanks!

Cheers,

Kyle