abufletcher

I predict it will! Just be careful on the turns until you get the feel for its stall characteristics. Good luck on the maiden!

Mike Emilio

Just a thought, as opposed to dead weight, could the receiver, servo air switch, and other such items be located more foreward?
Or maybe more battery capacity in the nose instead of dead weight?

The weight you came out with sounds about right for such a bird.

I'm looking at that nose photo. Is the plane fiberglassed ?

Frank Sopwith

Hi Mike
Yes, the plane is fiberglassed, I checked the weight of several 1/10 B-17 's on rcwarbirds.com : they all weigh in at 40 to 44 lbs. so I'll guess it's okay, but Don is right in the turns I have to watch the speed...........

Frank

Mike Emilio

I just had another thought.
2.2 pounds is surprisingly low.
I'm sure you did a good job at keeping the tail light during construction. Good work for sure.

How about using Higgley prop nuts with 3 blade props? The nuts are made of what appears to be a cast bronze. They look good and at the same time, will knock off maybe a pound of lead weight?

I use them on my 138".

CTDavies

Ok Guys, if the weather holds, it's on for tomorrow morning.
We will do the flying tests at Deelen in the Netherlands which is a defunct Dutch Airforce base with a tarmac landing strip of several kilometres length. Deelen Air Force Base was actually built by the Germans in WW2, so the place is somewhat appropriate, as it still has the historic buildings and infrastructure. The Air Force still owns it, but doesn't do any flying from there any more, it is used for administrative porposes only - so they let the PPL guys use one end of the field and us modellers use the other end.
We have all the systems installed and tested, it needs to pass an inspection by an Dutch Aviation authorative which Frank is taking care of this evening, so everything should be fine, tested and approved. Maybe more reports tomorrow...
Thanks rrudytoo and everyone else for your kind words.

Frank Sopwith

And so whe did!, enjoy the pictures guys!
just know that Chris and I are very happy ........
























She flies!,
Yes!

Chris and Frank

abufletcher

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Yi-Haaa! Dang but that looks great in the air!

JET FX

Congratulations..... what an absolutely beautiful scale model and looks like she flys just as sweet as she looks.
Now really looking forward to seeing her all dressed up with the Flite Metal[sm=wink_smile.gif]

Cheers- Marty

LuftwaffeOberst

The Real Memphis Belle caught fire and crashed during the filming of the movie " The Memphis Belle." Nothing much was left of it after the crash... I have it on film of the actual crash.

The Memphis Belle was not originally a G Version, they weren't out until early 1944. It was about mid 1943 when the Memphis Belle had her final mission.



Luftwaffe Oberst
Aero Modelers Club
AMA District II
Pulaski, NY

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

This is the actual "Memphis Belle" but it is a B-17F, not a G.

The B-17 that crashed during the 1989 filming of "The Memphis Belle" was a French registered G model belonging to the "Instituit Geographique National" and was not the actual Belle which, as shown above, is still with us and being restored by the USAFM.

Best regards,
Chad Veich

Baldeagle

My Feedback: (7)

Butifull Bird, and congrats on the maiden.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Nice flight...nice pics....ya did gooooood!!!!

abufletcher

So what's the scoop on how she feels in the air? How did the take-off and landing go? Were there any surprises? And what's next?

Frank Sopwith

Hi Don,
She just took off gradually, no tendency to break out left or right, no trimming needed on rudder ailevator or ailerons! (so within the first 5 seconds I knew she flies well)
During flight you can ' feel' the weight (mass) but she responds reliable on any correction, so in short she handles well!
The landing was rough because I could not get the nose down enough with flaps applied, so I was thinking to mix a bit down elevator to the flaps and add still a little bit more weight in the nose,
Flying speed is ok, Chris couldn't believe she flies so slow, (used 1/2 to 3/4 throttle during flight, max. on take off)
So next weekend some more flights and VIDEO ofcourse!

Frank (wow, what a relief.......)

Frank Sopwith

Gentlemen,
today we made 3 very succesful flights, added some more weight up front and she flies very well, just like a trainer (a very heavy trainer that is!)



Landings are pretty easy, though the speed is a bit high, so after a few flights now I finally have some time to enjoy her looks in the air:



Video has also been made; Chris is editing at this moment, and will put it on U-tube as soon as possible,

Frank

abufletcher

You've really got the perfect landscape there for B-17 flying! Look forward to the video!

CTDavies

Right on, Abu! Deelen was just a flying field before the war, but during the occupation the Germans turned it in to an airbase with tarmac runways, hangars and masonry buildings. Everything is still there today, although pretty much run down since the Dutch Army seased using it in the late 9ties.

Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (night fighter Unit 1) was stationed there for nearly the whole war with Gruppen I, II, III & later IV using ME-110s and Ju-88s. I think Jagdgeschwader 1 (Fighter Unit 1) and JG 11 were also there for a while during the war. The Germans abandoned it shortly after Market Garden.

Last Sunday we flew from the most southern part of the runway and just the thought of the Luftwaffe Me-110s and Ju-88s taking of from there many years ago was enough to give me goosebumps.

We did a video on Sunday with some flying shots of our B-17 which I might upload on YouTube tomorrow.

Chris

CTDavies

Oh yes, as far as colour schemes go, Frank and I agree that we don't want to add any more weight to the B-17 which got an extra 500 grammes in the nose last week to improve landings. She flies very well as she is but passes the 18kg mark, which is close to 40 lbs, which by far exceeds our set limits when we were designing her. There will be several changes in the design to bring the weight to a more acceptable level.

So we're looking at a paint job right now in lieu of Flite Metal, which will include built up and recessed panels line a´la Dave Platt's Paintig and Detailing series. Just a plain paint job would really be downgrading an impressive model. Top of our list of possibles is a Royal Air Force 90 Squadron Fortress 1 in Dark Green/DarkEarth over Azur Blue with A-1 roundels for a nice colourful and pretty Fortress for those sunny Sunday afternoons.

rogue-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

All I can say is that is one outstanding project. Congrats on your test flights.

abufletcher

I'm always one for an unusual color scheme if historically accurate -- so my vote would be for the Azur Blue! What sorts of ideas do you have for lightening the construction?

Teus

Go for the Azur Bleu Chris,

That's a stunning scheme, maybe a bit difficult to see/fly in the air.

CTDavies

Here is a fairly poor YouTube of the last weekend's test flying. It's the best I could do after converting the file to an .avi to keep the size small and the whole thing workable - unfortunately the sound gets lost during the second half. I might try re-editing the master again as an mpeg which makes a better quality image (Windows Movie Maker sucks) [].

This Link has been removed because I've placed an upgraded video on YouTube. Please check my newer posts.

Slammed

WOW I hope that I will soon enter that level

I wanted to say your video was awesum and after watching it I found this other video and I want to share it with you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtIL_VjBUGo its a B/29

CTDavies

Here's the upgraded test flights video with (slightly) improved picture and complete sound.

[link=http://youtube.com/watch?v=L4cSNCgCQEw]CD-Scaledesigns Boeing B-17C test flights[/link]

reincarnate

Great flight, great video, and GREAT JOB!!