4-engine bomber
 

You could try a royal-maratuka b-17. 77inch wing span.I got
one,flies so good I had the plans blew up and made a 96 inch
ws one and it flies even better.Plus I have a stafford -24 that
I am waiting to test fly.Nothin sound better than a 4 engine
bomber coming by on a low pass with all the engines in sinc.

4-engine bomber
 

David, I have a Stafford B-24.....You will have no trouble flying it as long as it has enough power. It's a piece of cake to fly. I think you will find that it flies better than the Royal B-17.... A friend at our field has a Royal B-17 that flies well, but not as well as the Stafford B-24 at slow speed.

Mine has four O.S. .26 four strokers and weighs approx. 14 lbs. Using Graupner 8x6 3 blade props.

You are sooooooooo right about the sound!

H.

4 engine bomber
 

Uncle
I am useing os 26 fs and grish tornado 3 blade 8x6s on the b24.
I have those grish on my royal and my 96 inch ws b-17 and they
pull good.I ran the 26s on the big b-17 to brake them in since I
knew what to expect if I had trouble,so hopefully the first flight
of the b 24 will be sucessful.Hope so anyway,hardest plane I
have ever built.

4-engine bomber
 

David, mine gets off a rough grass field in about 250 ft and leaves the ground at a slower speed than I would like but luckily it flies very well like that. Keep the climb shallow and don't turn until you've picked up speed. If you fly on a paved runway, no problem, you can easily get up to speed. I flew it off of a real concrete runway once and it was great.....wish I could all the time.

Yep, it IS a builder's kit. The wing took me a long time with all the cut outs, sheeting, nacelles, flaps and stuff.

Worth the effort, though. Hope you did the flaps....they do help but are not absolutely necessary. Which B-24 are you modeling? Strawberry *****? Jerks Natural? I did the "Joisey Bounce."

26's will have plenty of power, especially if you fly off asphalt. I don't use the mufflers....just the header pipe....runs just fine without pressure.

I've only had one engine out after about 30 flights. #2 quit and I didn't even know until I saw it on a low pass.

Great flyer...you'll love it. Hard to believe that a multi engine bomber kit designed in the very early 70's flies as well as a modern day kit.

Let us know about your B-24 maiden flight.

H.

b-24
 

Uncle
Well that day is getting nearer to try out the b-24.The weather
has finally broke into some nice days.How is the noise level
on those 26s with out mufflers.I'm used to the sound of 2 strokes
and loud harleys so I cant hardly here those four strokes good
enough to tell how there running.I had them on a b-17 breaking
them in before I put them on the b-24 and one flamed out and
I did'nt know it,just seemed low on power.So I'd like em a little
louder but not extra noisey to where it bothers people.

4-engine bomber
 

David, there was hardly any difference in the sound with or without the mufflers. The O.S. 26 mufflers don't have any baffles in them.....they're just like small expansion chambers.

Most people would say that you can't run them without pressure but I've never had a problem. I just use the header pipes alone or with brass extension tubes on them to clear the cowls on some airplanes. I don't use the extensions on the B-24 since the headers are long enough to clear.

I keep mine on the rich side which helps, I think. Don't even get close to lean! Get some of your buddies to lift the plane nose up with the engines running to see if they quit before you fly. I've only had one engine out with the B-24 in about 30 flights and one engine out in a trimotor I had a few years ago that had over 100 flights on it.

I have my one and only takeoff on concrete on Quicktime video with sound in my computer. Wish I could send it to you but the file is too large for AOL.

Let me know if you have any questions about how it flies.

Got any pictures?

H.

b-24
 

Uncle
Well this thing is scratch built from stafford plans I got from
Mr Grabow here on rcu.I found foam wings,But i cut me a pattern
off one and sectioned it and made ribs for built up wood wings.
I figure i can fix it back easier if it goes down with wood wings.
You talk about a pain in the but,plans dont show any formers,
but it turned out as good as a kit would have.Here is a picture.

4-engine bomber
 

Cool Lib, David!

Wait until you see and hear it in the air!

Do you fly off of grass or paved runway?

H.

4-engine bomber
 

"this thing is scratch built from stafford plans"


Oh oh, I hear Bill coming to tell you that you didn't build it from scratch since you used someone else's plans. :P

b-24
 

Uncle
Thanks for the compliment.I'm going to be flying off grass.As for
the other thread on scratch built,You ever see the plans for
the stafford b-24.It doe'snt show any pattern what so ever.All
I actually got from the plans was height width and length.I had
to make all the parts two or three or four times to get them even
close to working.All wood wing,Throttles,flaps retracts were a pain
in the behind.So I'm still claiming scratch built.

4-engine bomber
 

LOL yeah I know what you mean. I've deviated from the plans so much on the little Peashooter I'm doing now that I'm going to call it scratch built too! Only thing left that is stock from the plans is the fuse. I redesigned the wing and tail.

Great job on that 4 engine plane! I'd love to see that one fly!

doom
 

where did you get turrets canopy and other clear parts for this.did you make and pull your own.i need a canopy for a kit a have that is missing one and a tail turret to do a j version.any help would be great.

b-24
 

Some of the plastic parts I made trying to learn how to vacum
form stuff.Other things like turretts is just plastic packaging.I'm
always looking a plastic cartons to recycle into airplane parts.
Some of the planes I,ve built there,s no cowls or nacelles for
the odd sizes I come up with.I always find something that works.
I heard staffords closed up for now and I wanted one so this
is the route I took,talk about a challenge.

Scratch? Aint no steenkin' scratch!
 

OK, AWL and Doom:

I'll let you two get away with it this time.

But for recycling available materials I think I did pretty well on the "Tiggerkitty (a true scratch) as the engine cowlings are aluminum drink can bottoms. I had intended to use Coke cans, but when I went to get a six pack the Schlitz "Malt Liquor" six pack was cheaper than the Coke. Being the skinflint I am, the cowlings said "Schlitz" until the final painting.

Coke can cowlings can be done,
. Schlitz beer cowlings are more (Hic!) fun.

Bill.

4-engine bomber
 

Well uncle Heinkel,Finally got up the nerve to fly the b-24 today.
What a sight,pretty awsome.Flew like a charm,I was having
trouble with my engines,So I figured with the touble I was having
something bad was instore.Got it on the runway,which is pretty
ruff,couldnt hardly steer the 24 straight,lined her up,put down the
flaps,went full throttle,Went about 30 feet or less and it was going up.It climbed out fast.Trim was'nt to bad off.After trimming
my knees eased off shaking.Had a great flight,A whole lot better
than what I was expecting.Only problem I had was landing,My flaps need a little ajusting,slight right turn coming in,so I was adding left to keep her straight so when it touched down,bent
my nose gear from being in a left turn and kinda tilted to the right.
Did'nt hurt anything but my nose gear.I got a robart mechanical
nose,and robart air on the mains.The reason for my steering problems is the thing is so wobley and the feild is ruff,(our new feild).I got it all on film,Other than the crappy landing the thing
was an awsome sight to see.Thanks for all your input on yours
I kept that in mind as I was getting ready.Its different from my
b-17 thats for sure,Could,nt say which one I like better,I like them all.
David




Special thank to Art Grabow.

4-engine bomber
 

David:

Congratulations on the first flight of your B-24.

Did you keep all the engines running until touchdown? You were talking about them not being to you liking.

And where are the pictures?

Bill.

4-engine bomber
 

Congratulations David! Doesn't it fly great?

We have a rough field too so I know what that's like. I have B&D retracts and had to replace the nose gear too. Not the gear's fault, it's the rough runway and a couple of rough landings. It's a tough bird....I had the nose gear get hung up on the wheel well side and had to land with the nose gear up....slowed it down as much as I could....it landed with a short skid....no damage at all!

I have to constantly correct the steering on takeoff until it really gets moving...it seems to straighten out at that point. I think uneven transitions on the engines pull it one way and another until they all reach full throttle.

Mine is in the hanger now waiting for some new fuel fillers and getting a makeover for an upcoming contest.

Just finishing a Junkers Ju-52 tri-motor, 120" span....now I'M getting a little nervous!

Got digital video of your flight? Love to see it.

Keep us posted....

H.

4-engine bomber
 

I have a new camcorder thats suppose the transfer it to the pcu,
and make a cd,If I cant figure it out I will get my buddy to do it
for me.When ever I get it on here,excuse the landing.Took it
home in one piece.Them engines ran great in the air and all of
them were running when it came in,untill it tilted up.Alot faster
and came off the ground quicker than I was expecting.If you saw
what I to work with when I started on it you'ed be amazed it
would even fly,I was.That was very satisfieing and gratifieing
for me.I had a friend that past away a couple years ago that was
a tail gunner on one and started a b-24,but didnt get to finish
it.He was always telling me he wished he could build his as fast
as i build my b-17s.I asked his wife to come out and watch in
his place,so I am glad nothing went wrong.Fix the nose gear and check it over and she will be ready agin.

4-engine bomber
 

So there is'nt a dependable nose gear for that size plane.Dont
know what the weight is,but it should'nt be no heavier than one
with a foam wing.I took out the nose gear and straightend it,and
I noticed the deck floor in the nose craked above the retracted.I
am going to have to put in a piece of plywood for extra support.
I think after that I will be she will be ok on the next landing.

RE: 4-engine bomber
 

I still have the b-24,Did you know they will fly with one engine running and the other 3 out.That was a scary flight and talk about a fight.Just knew it was gone after all that hard work.lost an engine on take off and 2 while in flight.Would have been nice to have a copilot to lower that flaps and gear,But I managed to keep it flying and work all that.Just as it got ready to touch down the wing tip hit the ground and split the wing and busted the right retract.Easily fixed the wing back and changed the retract.Still I saved it and I have witnesses.What a sweet flying plane.

RE: 4-engine bomber
 

That does sound scary! good that you made it back in basicly one piece. I have one too. my engines have been good to me lately:D
not too many of these left.

RE: 4-engine bomber
 

wingspan b-17:)

RE: 4-engine bomber
 

Dail: What type retracts you useing on your b-24.Looks good.

RE: 4-engine bomber
 

Goldberg mechanicals with Sonic air cylinders on the mains and a B&D air nose unit. just like the instructions recomended. that was 20 years ago, and still working!