Algu... Thanks. Hope I answered some questions.
I have yet to have a Castle controller fail on me in the air. I had a Jeti on an AXI that failed (AXI failed) mid flight and it caught fire. When an AXI failed on a plane with a Castle, it would not start but the controller did not catch fire. There was at least one problem with the HV controllers because they tried to eliminate the spark at plug-in with some hardware and software. The failure mode was that the controller went dead. They have removed that and retrofitted all controllers sent to them. I have seen large AXI motors have trouble when run by Castle controllers. Castle tells me it has to do with how the motors are made. ie magnet position, winding accuracy etc. I read about Greg's problems and I wonder if thats it. I have had no probs with Hacker (C50XL on 10S ~50A on a 45HV) and I just ran up a Hyperion 4035 on 8 and 9S at up to 65A on a Phx 45HV. I won't fly it that way but it did work. I've run Phx 45's at 45-50A regularly on 3S and even with 4 HS-81/85's they work great. My 10's see 12A with no problems, I have a 35 in a ducted fan (Mega 16/15/2) that pulls 45A. I really should replace it but it's been flying 2 yrs now...

Anyway, the Castles are more programmable than any other. That's why I recommended them. They're the only ones I know of that you can be sure what the software version is.
This bomber project should be easy to build very conservatively so it is absolutely reliable. In fact I have a Tritle designed B-17 kit I should start soon. It's ~60" but only 4lb so 4 outrunners on 4 Phx10's should be great.

I wonder how much the Royal B-17 will weigh.

dyno - thanks for the post. Looks like it has plenty of power.