1:9 Scale B-17G - 'Sweet Pea'

[wilmracer]

Lots to catch up on with the radio. I'll start looking through the app and the online instructions while watching glue dry tonight. Kid and wife kept me busy until after 9 last night so I only got a few more panels on, but I WILL have the foam sheeting done this week. I had to be extra careful with the glue in the areas near the retract cables, but other sections should go a bit quicker.

 

[wilmracer]

Slow and steady. Adding a few sheets every evening. She'll be foam sheeted by COB Sunday.

 

[willsonman]

Loving it. I cannot wait to see it all clad in balsa too.

 

[wilmracer]

Loving it. I cannot wait to see it all clad in balsa too.

It is going to take a small forest of balsa trees to cover this thing. I've got about 30 4"x36"x1/16th" sheets on hand and I'm hoping that is enough for the fuse and vertical.

Weight is still looking good IMO. Current weight is 37oz, and that is with the steering/retract servos and the tail unit installed. I'm guessing those are about 10oz combined.

 

[wilmracer]

Finally have some real progress to show. Foam sheeting on the fuse is basically done. I need to fill a few small gaps and then sand the surface to level everything out and get it smooth before starting the balsa sheeting, and I'll have some more work to do in the wing saddle area, but one thing at a time. I need to get the central section of the horizontal stab mounted so I can blend it in to the fuse, so this evening I cut it in. I had to grab a few vanity shots with the stabs installed. I pushed the tail cone on and taped the upper fuse in place for the pictures. Total weight for all of this is just over 6lbs at the moment, and there is a lot of FG to trim off. That weight also includes the tailwheel and 4 servos and hardware for the retract, steering, and elevators.

Loads more to do but every little bit makes her look more like a 17.

 

[rockyboy]

That's awesome!

That third pictures reminds me of that scene in Elf where Will Ferrell is sitting on Bob Newhart's lap. Dad with a ridiculously large baby.

 

[PsyBorg]

That smile says it all.

Wont be long til yer on the flight line knees a knockin hands a shakin and that inevitible feeling people are staring at you.
😉

 

[willsonman]

Making excellent progress... but has Sarah said?!

 

[wilmracer]

Making excellent progress... but has Sarah said?!

She is now ignoring this project as hard as she can When she's in a good mood and I've done all my chores she MIGHT let me talk about it, but she does not want to see it .

 

[rockyboy]

She is now ignoring this project as hard as she can When she's in a good mood and I've done all my chores she MIGHT let me talk about it, but she does not want to see it .

That's an excellent description of the mood around the house about my big planes too

 

[wilmracer]

Another short update

 

[wilmracer]

So I checked out pillow block options a member of another forum shared with me and ordered a few units to test. They look like a viable option, but are a LOT less massive than the heavy-duty units I used in the prototype. Overall though I think they may work out, and if they do they will save a TON of basically dead weight right around the CG. The weight difference is 6oz PER UNIT, so 24oz less overall!

These are the units I picked up. I'm open to thoughts/suggestions...
https://www.igus.com/info/spherical-bearings-pillow-block-bearing-mm-inch-ca

 

[wilmracer]

As for actual building it has been a bit slow. I've had a lot of manly chores the last several nights, fighting electrical problems in the Jeep and prepping for a stone path my wife wants. In between chores I have been working on framing out the vertical stabilizer. I've added a lot of holes and open spaces in the central profile as I added the foam skins. This section will be sanded and shaped, and along with the sheeting will also receive a balsa leading edge and tip to the stab. Happy with it so far. Just have to keep moving forward

A fun little trick here. You can see where I hit the vertical "ribs" with black sharpie and then filled the gaps between them with foam. As I sand the foam to shape I'll use the sharpie as an indicator of how much more I need to sand. When I start taking the sharpie off I've gone far enough. Once everything is sanded close, I'll do a light once over and then it should be ready for balsa sheeting.

 

[wilmracer]

So it has been a busy, and frankly rough, last month. I had a rather unexpected job situation come up and I've been pretty much completely focused on dealing with that situation. The Sweet Pea has frankly barely been touched since the last update (I think some of the pins are still in the same spots). As things get back to normal here I'll get back to my normal cadence with her. As for the last month the little bit of build time I've had has been focused on getting ready for SEFF. There has been SOME work related to this project done in the last few weeks though.

The foamy B-17 model I picked up a while ago was assembled and prepped for flight. This model will be a test bed for programming and will let me play with stuff before using it on the big model. It will also let me get some stick time and familiarity with the Horus X10 S that @rockyboy snagged for me at swap meet (for a GREAT price! Thanks again!). I'm not going to worry about detailing or tweaking this model. I'll probably install the gun barrels just so I don't get comments that they are missing, but at SEFF she will be flying stock while I learn the new radio. I THINK I've got the basics figured out but @willsonman will set me straight if I've messed something up.

After SEFF any hobby time I have will be spent on the Sweet Pea, so hopefully I'll get some updates rolling on her again next month.

 

[Joker 53150]

Jobs have a way of interfering with hobby-time, hopefully your job issues are sorted out soon.

When you start laying the balsa down on the fuselage are you going to use sheets or planks? It's such a great feeling once they're started and the overall look of the plane comes even more into focus. My 1/3 scale L-19 Bird Dog is sheeted with 1/8" planks and sheets, along with a healthy dose of balsa filler. I lost track of how many sheets I started with, and how many planks I cut from the original sheets. Keep up the killer work!

 

[rockyboy]

I missed a couple build reports due to crazy life events too - love seeing the foam building tricks, especially when they are new to me

Those plastic pillow blocks look really interesting too - any issues with ordering small quantities through that site?

 

[wilmracer]

I missed a couple build reports due to crazy life events too - love seeing the foam building tricks, especially when they are new to me

Those plastic pillow blocks look really interesting too - any issues with ordering small quantities through that site?

Only issue was that I had to explain a few times that I wasnt a big company and I just needed a few, but they were happy to accommodate me I did get a funny email asking me to forward the quote to my purchasing department for manager approval.

 

[wilmracer]

I will be using sheets where possible and strips where necessary. I have about 40 4"x36" sheets of balsa for skinning and we will see how far that gets me

 

[rockyboy]

Only issue was that I had to explain a few times that I wasnt a big company and I just needed a few, but they were happy to accommodate me I did get a funny email asking me to forward the quote to my purchasing department for manager approval.

And did you get Sarah's approval before authorizing the purchase order?

 

[wilmracer]

And did you get Sarah's approval before authorizing the purchase order?

Lol... sort of ;-). I mean, she didn't say no