Royal B17 kt
 

Has anyone built a B17 Kit from Royal. I recently bought this kit and have some questions regarding assy. Any help wuld

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I friend of mine built one years ago and and the fuselage came out real light, but the wing.....

They way he built his wing came out real heavy and over built. I mentioned to him that he could build a foam wing faster and lighter than the built up wing. Use the balsa ribs for the foam wing pattern. Cut a foam wing, put a full height spar (1/8" plywood) at the 25% chord line from the bottom skin to top skin and run that 2" past the outboard engine. Skin the wing with 1/16 balsa and it will be lighter than the wing on the plans. No internal spar is needed past the engines, the wing skins provide plenty of structural strength. THen I would fiberglass the wing, mount the aileron servos in each panel, 1 servo per flap and 1 servo per engine, for a total of 8 serovos in the wing.

He used OS four stroke 26 engines, sounded great. THe cowls are real small so getting the tanks and engines in is a challenge.

Just my 2 cents of ideas on this one...

good luck
Fred Cronenwett

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

"THe cowls are real small so getting the tanks and engines in is a challenge. "
See my post on four engines and one tank, if it would help with the fuel problem.
Hope it helps.
Twinman

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Thanks for the advice and heads up. I will look into the single tank idea some more. This is turn will help to lighten up the wings some.

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I had a friend that built 2 in college. During Take off we would always stand behind him. It would always take a hard left or right durring take off. It depended on the last engine to spool up or the last wiggle in the tail. It always took off 90 degrees to the runway. Good thing was that when all four engines are up it is flying. He was a bit wild then but it flew well beyond that.

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

It took me a year and a lot of sanding I used Minwax and glass and house paint wt. 13.5 lbs no fuel 4 o.s. cva15s spining 9x4 props to fit in the small cowls no retracks, wanted to hear 4 motors WOW! sounds great. Flew It once for about 10 mins take off was great no trim needed motors had 3deg down thrust . Sold to a frend high wing load hard to land he is going to repair it, it will fly agen and we did learn alot from the first flight. I am now thinking of building a bigger one like wing mfg b-17 with 4 o.s. 25s like they say BIGGER BETTER will see.

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I have just about finished a Marutaka B17E kit. From what I heard, Marutaka baught out Royal so maybe we are talking about the same plane. This kit is a 77" wingspan, 10-12lbs 15-25 two strokes. I had to make some changes as the kit came without flaps and fixed gear, I installed Dave Brown Mechanical retracts on the main gear and also made split flaps each with their own servo. I also changed the ailerons from bellcrank control to a servo on each. I also installed a mini servo in each nacelle for throttles, used seperate fuel tanks on each engine. I am using OS 30 4-strokes btw. I covered it with Monokote and so far it looks pretty good. Have not made the maiden flight yet, in a week or two we hope. I am sorry I have spent so much money on this kit, the plastic parts were all too large, I had to make lots of mods to get things to fit and it hs been a hassel. I have started building a Don Smith 140" B17G that will have Zenoah 26 engines in it. I will try to include a photo. Also, I have heard that Marutaka has gone under and don't know if anyone has ppicked up the kit.[img]B17_017sm.jpg[/img]

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Looks great. Keep us posted......Uh remember to breathe!!
Twinman

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Just as a quick side note, Marutaka did not buy Royal out, Royal was the US distributor of the Marutaka kits. Royal is gone, Marutaka is still with us.

Bill.

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Marutaka just closed it's doors forever, just so everyone knows. It's almost over for the 1/8 .60 size kits, thanks to Skyshark though. Thanks to Top Flite I guess for making planes that look like warbirds when you put stars and bars on them?:eek:

Dion

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I understand that you have used monokote for the covering of the wings. Was this a mod that you did to cut down on the wing loading? The royal kit is sheeted. I was thinking that I would use monokote as well to shave off some weight after the post above concerning wing loading. I have never worked with foam, but may give that a try as well. I had in mind using separate servos for the ailerons as well. I do not like the idea of a single servo controlling these surfaces. Please keep me up to date on your progress. I can hardly wait to hear about your maiden flight. Using the 4 strokes is also something that I am considering. What about the weight difference between the 2 and 4 strokes? Is there a large difference there as well? At any rate, it sounds like we are both thinking alike. Although I have not started on this project yet, I am trying to get all the advice I can and really like what I have read in the posts to date. I have a few projects to clear up, and then I will start on my dream plane. I only hope that I can build my favorite plane and have it turn out as nice as the picture that you posted.
Regards,
Brewskies

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Wow, thanks for all the feedback on the Marutaka B17, my dealer tells me that Marutaka has closed their doors for good also so they purchased as much from them as they could on their last order including cowls and other kit parts as well as some more kits. (Hobby Barn in Tucson, AZ, I will give you their number if anyone needs it).

As far as the weight of the 4-strokes... I didn't care how much weight it added as I have used the OS 26 4- strokes in a bunch of planes and they were always super reliable and I had to have the 4-stroke sound on a B17! My plane weighed out at 12.5 lbs without the batteries, RX, wiring or the Futaba 4ch servo sequencer( MSA-10) but these can't add much more. The engines and the 10 servos do make the wing "seem" very heavy however.

The wings are balsa sheeted, I covered the entire model with Monokote when I became so discusted with the kit. I just didn't want to waste my time glassing it. I am sure the glas would help the structure strength a bunch and I am sure it needs it. I am hoping the plane doesn't blow apart on the first flight or landing!

I hope to get it out the field next weekend (Jan 8th, 05) so I will post the results for everyone and any photos of any mishaps. I have better photos to include with this post.

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Looking good Rick. What time do you plan on flying on the 8th. I'd love to see the maiden of your B-17. I have my C-47 repaired and ready to fly again. Maybe we can do some formation flying once your knees stop knocking.

Steve

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Well I was planning on being out there early Saturday monring but I have to get a tooth pulled Friday afternoon so the maiden flight this weekend is off. I didn't get the batteries in until today either so I am just now finishing the raido install.

Formation would be great! I am not sure how my bird will fly, it has some twist in the wing that scares me, but still I am flying it anyhow and can't wait. Do you normally go out Sat or Sun?

C-47 Looks great, I need some tips on glassing. Maybe you can fill me in on your recent knowledge of the topic? And what kind of sprayer are you using?

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

Steve, I can't quite tell by the photos... did you get the 4-strokes installed? Great angles on those pics!

Later!

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I did get the OS 52 4 strokes in along with several other "improvements". The picture angles were deliberate, to conceal the engines.
I'm using a cheap HVLP sprayer from harbor freight. It does the job but I'm still learning how to use it.
I normaly fly on Sundays but am close enough to go anytime.

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

OK, why don't we try to plan on meeting out there next Saturday. I am out of commision from having the tooth pulled this weekend and I am just finishing the set up on the B17. I can't wait to see your C-47 with the 4-strokes. Have you flown it yet with the new engines? I think 4-strokes really make a multi-engine sound great and fly more realistic. Wait till you see how I had to butcher my cowls to get them over the little 30's! I am going to run up and calibrate the engines on the B17 this coming week and see no problems going out next Saturday. Mike Said he would carry the beast out in his van, it's way to big for my car even though it's only 77". I did the break in on a quad test stand I fabricated, they sound great all running together!

Did I tell you I am starting a 139" Don Smith version? This will be my first attempt at true scale with a giant scale bird. I am going to scale it after the B17G that is owned by the 309th bomber squadron and keeps their plane at Pima Air and Space. Lots on great info on WWII aircraft in that building! I wanted to go with raw aluminum for the new one but that is beyond my abilities I am afraid. Glas and paint will do and still provide plenty of room for the scale needs. I have gathered a bunch of B17 data in the last 8 months inlcuding some detailed Boeing drawings of all parts of the ship. I need to quick learn how to use an air brush. I have read 3 or 4 books and looking for some videos but need to gather some knowledge from the experienced like yourself before I buy any air brush/sprayers.

Maybe we can get a couple of small (40 size) P51's or P47's to join in the formation flying?

Later,

Rick

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

The field is closed to flying Saturday due to the Rocketeers. How 'bout Sunday?

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I am building a Royal B-17E kit and i want to know what kind of fuel tank , size , model and where do you put them.

balsanova

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

can anybody with a set a plans for the royal b-17 tell me where the c/g is located at.

thanks,
mike

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I am building a Royal B-17E kit and i want to know what size of fuel tank , where do you put them.. i have 4 os .25 Fx engines in it.


Yvan Grondin

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I just checked the plans and measured the CG from the leading edge and came up with a measurement of 5.166". I repeated this check about 5 times and I did get a reading of 5.145, 5.148 and then 5.166. Maybe the folds in the plans caused the different readings. Hope this helps.

Regards,

Brewskies

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

thanks for the c/g brewskies. i have a model of the royal b-17 that was enlarged 200% and was wondering were to start as i don't have a set of plans.

mike

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

I used DuBro 4 oz flat tanks just off the leading eadge inside the wing feeding a 1.5oz Sullivan header tank mounted behind the firewall with servo tape. The muffler pressure is prted to the larger tanks vent line, the pickup goes to the header tanks vent and that tanks pickup goes to the carb. Works great.

If you are not going to put in retracts, then use the Great Planes 6 oz tanks and sli them right in the nacelle

RE: Royal B17 kt
 

... 5-1/8th to 5-1/4 inches back from the leading edge at the fuse.