kram

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I don't see any active threads on Fortresses out there.

Just got mine (Frenesi II) out of summer dry dock and over to Frank's shop.

Hope to fly next spring.



mt

foodstick

Hey that looks familiar! I think I have drooled on it, or should I say around it..when its in the shop you pretty much have to slide along the wall to move around! I will be anxious to see it go. You know the bad part is with Frank building it, AND TEST FLYING IT....that really gives you no excuse or place to hide later when you fly it !!!

mjjolley

Awesome! I'm looking forward to following this one.

zipnz1

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The b-17 looks great mark. I admire franks building skills and of all the b-17 kits out there i feel wingspan is the best.
One of the paint schemes i was considering for my z-p51 was frenesi. would you know if there any relation between the b17 & p51 frenesi.

kram

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Foodstick: Jealous? Generally there's NEVER any place to hide when one flies a 138" B-17 !! (or so I hear!) Kinda like the 5-cyl Fw at Owatonna.

zipnz1: No real plane-to-plane relationship. "Frenesi" was a popular song in the early 40's and all WWII planes by that name derived it from the song, I think. The first Frenesi B-17 was a 1943 F model which survived more than one legendary "shot to pieces" mission. Not all the crew made it back alive and those who did were heavily decorated. "Frenesi II" was a metallic G model that came out in late '44 with yellow and red trim and (best I can tell) no nose art.

The Fortress you flew at the 2007 Ames meet was even bigger, right?

Anybody: Do you know where I can find a decent 1/9 scale cockpit kit the would save us some work? Don Smith and 1/9 Wingspan are the same size.

Vintauri

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Mark,

I sure hope you have this flying next year for the Owatonna Fly-in. I bet we could get 5 or more B-17's up together with a little planning. I'll be watching your progress here!

Steve

Scotsman

Kram,

What is the design you have come up with for the cowls? It looks like they are cut down in length and partially fit to the fuselae. Do they split on a panel line? Workmanship looks impeccable! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to following.

Scot

zipnz1

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the b-17 i had at the ames meet was around 1/8 scale with a 156" wingspan.
Thats interesting history about the frenesi name, i did not know about the song. somebody told me a few years back that it was pronounced (free-n-easy).

kram

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Vintauri: Yep! When y'all invited me to fly "cover" over your B-17's with my P-38 last summer, it raised the hair on the back of my neck. Not sure why: just a tremendous sense of history and respect for the guys who did it for real, I guess. I expect Frenesi II to be flying by then, just not sure Frank will have me off the leash yet so he can fly his own 17 at the same time

Scotsman: We actually bought four extra cowls and Frank cut the noses off them, giving the scale "double ring" appearance and giving much easier access to the nacelles and engine compartments. I will get some pix of the the full assembly next time I remember my camera.
Yes, "impeccable" is a good word for Frank's building. I feel honored to have him doing this project. Not only does his stuff look great when it's done, but it works great, too. I think he would rather feed his planes through a wood chipper than be hangar queens. He has been flying his Wescraft 17 for 8? years now....hundreds of flights at many different airfields, some in bad conditions. Watching him work (or explain his work), you get that "Why the heck didn't I think of that?" feeling about once every ten minutes.

Anybody: No ideas on the 1/9 scale cockpit kit?

Thanks,

mt

foodstick

I'll bet Franks b-17 has at least 300 flights on it, I know I have seen probably 40 myself, he seldom flies less than three times a day if he gets it out to the field. I know one thing when the central Iowa B-17 and B29 guys show up there will be some planes in the sky.

Scotsman

Hey Kram,

How did you set up the fuel tanks on the inboard nacelles. There is so little room there with the gear and everything. I'm guessing you are running 4-stroke engines, but not sure. What size? Hope you have time to get more pictures.

Scot

Greg Wright

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Hey Kram i was just doing a google search for the cockpit and i, came acrooss another forum on here called B-17 project. There was a guy in texas that was working on the cockpit for the kit try pulling that forum up and see who it is then maybe you could contact him. The guy's name on here that was making the cockpit is ( dionysusbacchus ) try a search for his profile and them send him a PM message.






Thanks

Greg Wright

kram

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Greg and Scot:

Sorry, I had not subscribed to my own thread and kind of lost track of it, so I didn't see your questions.

I bought Saito 1.25 FS's for this project. Frank has the tanks, the throttle servos, the throttle rods, the engine mounts and the engines and both cowl rings for all four engines fitted and ready, but temporarily removed for the finishing/painting phase. Yes, the tanks and the gear are a tight fit on engines 2 and 3. We have 20 and 24 oz tanks for inboard and outboard, respectively. Frank was showing me today how he labels EVERY COMPONENT 1 thru 4 for the nacelles, since any little individual variance could really mess up the alignments for for dis/assembly. With some commendable assistance from the good folks at Tru-Turn, we have fit 1.25" hubs (scale) by cutting a little off the long Saito prop shafts. Let me know if you need part #'s to duplicate that.

The last month or so has been devoted to technical details that have to be finished before the final covering/painting: electric tailwheel steering and retract, cockpit, gun turrets, control surfaces, hinges, bomb-door mechanism, etc. Frank did all the cockpit stuff from scratch, including the bomb sight. I keep telling him to avoid ridiculous fine scale and proceed with his usual "bomb-proof" mechanical set-up and covering, but I think he's got the fever a little. All gun barrels are 4-40 screw detachable to minimize hangar rash.

Pictures below are fair representations of a turret, the cockpit, the empennage, the wings, bomb bay mechanism (hard to show). One wing is in first coat of "icing," the other already sanded down and primered around the "tough spots." Rustoleum flat red auto primer to give us some contrast when the silver coat goes down. Had to get that off the internet at thepaintstore.com

I'll get some detailed shots of the underside of the nacelles after re-assembly.

Greg, you gotta bring that gorgeous 38 to our multi-fly next September. Take home some bling-bling!


mt

kram

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pix too large?

pilotdude57

Do you know if anyone puts out a fiberglass 1/8 scale B-17? Also, are you building this from the Don Smith plan? Your details are amazing, especially the ball turret. What engines will you use?

pilotdude57

Oh, disregard the question about the engines, I just read the post about the Saitos.

Scotsman

Kram,

Apparently, experience has taught you guys that more rudder is needed? Did you guys use Mike's Ball turret resin casting and glass parts or make your own? Looks awesome!! It seems that you have the main gear out of the wing for finishing? How did you do that?!?! I had to build mine in. I don't think they could come out without significant surgery... Keep the updates coming, really appreciat them.

Scot

Evil_Merlin

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Pilotdude, if you had read the thread you would see its a Wingspan models aircraft.

As for a 1/8th scale in glass? I doubt it very much.

With a 155.6" wingspan and a fuse 111.5" long, it would damn near be a nightmare to ship.

American Eagle makes a smaller fuse version, in 1/10th scale, and Wingspan Models has a built up kit in 1/12th, 1/9th and 1/6th scale.

pilotdude57

OK, thanks for the info. I never heard of Wingspan or American Eagle. If you think a large B-17 would be a nightmare to ship check out the current B1-b bomber thread being done in Texas. It is HUGE and he made fiberglass molds, so I assume he plans on selling it. He should have it flying by next summer, and has been working on it for about three years.

robotc96

i could never carve an rc like that

kram

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pilotdude:

I guess shipping anything large all depends on how much time/money/love/luck you're willing to invest in the crate.
Here's a picture of a Robart P-38 I bought last year.

Scotsman:

Yes on the rudder. I think I remember Frank telling me it approximates the evolution on the real 17-G, also. It may look bigger in that picture because the tail gun pod isn't on.

The ball turret is Mike's kit stuff, with some modifications.

The main gear goes in and out of the wells without cutting on the plane itself, but once it's all assembled, the assembly/disassembly ain't easy. I'll try to be there to take pictures when it all starts going back together after paint. Maybe his advantage is the firewall, the cowl and the secondary cowl ring un-bolt easily. This is his 4th B-17, and the 1/6 scale is here, on deck, so not only is he a really good builder, but he has thought thru/worked thru all these problems several times.

mt

ram3500-RCU

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Hello Kram. She is beautiful. One of my all time favorite planes. Hope to make your event next year to see it in person.

kram

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I hope you can make it.

No promises, but there's a good possibilty we will be able to put 6 or 7 Fortresses into the air at once next September!



mt

pilotdude57

What scale are those 3 B-17's?

kram

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1/10