Mega B-17 build

Mclags

Active member
Nice! I wonder how much coding it would take to make a bombsight. That would really increase the accuracy.
If you want some actual explosions, I have a few recommendations for munitions.

1: Pop its fireworks. They pop when they fall on something hard like a runway.
2: Airsoft Grenades. They would probably break if you dropped them over anything hard. Grass would be fine though. (Eye protection needed)

I hope you get the D16 rx's soon! Nice job!
That's the reason for having the flight controller and gps on board. I can set and maintain a heading, altitude and ground speed accurately. So once the camera angle is dialed in we should be mint.
Weight of bombs to drop becomes the issue, as the bag is behind the cg. Too heavy and once dropped the plane will become very nose heavy. I have made the bombs so they can take a cap on the tip of them for a bang.
 

"Corpse"

Legendary member
That's the reason for having the flight controller and gps on board. I can set and maintain a heading, altitude and ground speed accurately. So once the camera angle is dialed in we should be mint.
Weight of bombs to drop becomes the issue, as the bag is behind the cg. Too heavy and once dropped the plane will become very nose heavy. I have made the bombs so they can take a cap on the tip of them for a bang.
Nice! I've always dream't of dropping hundreds of pop-its on one of my brothers.:LOL::ROFLMAO:
 

Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes

Legendary member
That's the reason for having the flight controller and gps on board. I can set and maintain a heading, altitude and ground speed accurately. So once the camera angle is dialed in we should be mint.
Weight of bombs to drop becomes the issue, as the bag is behind the cg. Too heavy and once dropped the plane will become very nose heavy. I have made the bombs so they can take a cap on the tip of them for a bang.
On every full scale bomber ever made the bomb bay is directly at the CG so there isn't a big shift when to load is dropped. Not sure why yours is further aft but it might be something worth fixing.

I agree with you, airsoft grenades are way too heavy for a plane this size. The ones that pop are about the size of a can as a minimum, and a bit heavier too. I like the ones you made, they're 3d printed? You really don't have to worry about losing any if that's the case.

I really like where you're going with the bombsight and flight controller, if it's stable enough it should be fun to set up a target and take turns seeing who can hit it from the highest altitude. Ever seen Memphis Belle? Set up a mock factory with cardboard boxes as the target but surround it with "civilian" structures that you have to take care not to hit.

I might be a bit late to the part but here's my two cents on camera placement, I can't really tell where yours are from the photos but I'd put the bombsight poking through the floor in the nose. That way it's both inconspicuous and doesn't have to look through the canopy so it has a clear picture. For the pilots camera the nose seems like the obvious spot but that canopy has me a bit concerned, it's not going to be the clearest picture looking through it.
Near the wing root there's the intakes for the engines, if possible I'd hide it in one of those. It looks like your ESC might be in the way but it may be possible to fit a camera just in front. Otherwise I'd hide it in the cockpit and just cut out one of the windscreen panels, you won't see it when it's in the air anyway.

Here's mine:

IMG_0047~2.jpg


The last Fortress the Air Force ever flew, SN 44-83684. That's me in the front row, second from the right in the ivy cap.
 

Mclags

Active member
On every full scale bomber ever made the bomb bay is directly at the CG so there isn't a big shift when to load is dropped. Not sure why yours is further aft but it might be something worth fixing.

I agree with you, airsoft grenades are way too heavy for a plane this size. The ones that pop are about the size of a can as a minimum, and a bit heavier too. I like the ones you made, they're 3d printed? You really don't have to worry about losing any if that's the case.

I really like where you're going with the bombsight and flight controller, if it's stable enough it should be fun to set up a target and take turns seeing who can hit it from the highest altitude. Ever seen Memphis Belle? Set up a mock factory with cardboard boxes as the target but surround it with "civilian" structures that you have to take care not to hit.

I might be a bit late to the part but here's my two cents on camera placement, I can't really tell where yours are from the photos but I'd put the bombsight poking through the floor in the nose. That way it's both inconspicuous and doesn't have to look through the canopy so it has a clear picture. For the pilots camera the nose seems like the obvious spot but that canopy has me a bit concerned, it's not going to be the clearest picture looking through it.
Near the wing root there's the intakes for the engines, if possible I'd hide it in one of those. It looks like your ESC might be in the way but it may be possible to fit a camera just in front. Otherwise I'd hide it in the cockpit and just cut out one of the windscreen panels, you won't see it when it's in the air anyway.

Here's mine:

View attachment 166339

The last Fortress the Air Force ever flew, SN 44-83684. That's me in the front row, second from the right in the ivy cap.
Good advice and ideas.
The bomb bay is as far forward as I could make it as I had to add wing joining spars forward and aft of it. The cg for this plane is 35-40mm from the leading edge. If I put the bay centered on that it would be half in fuse and half in wing. Meaning the wing would have to be permanently fitted. That makes it too big to transport. I did consider the option of making each wing removable and permanently fixing the centre section. But it was going to be a ridiculous amount of work to make that work and be reliable.
Yes the bombs are 3d printed, so I don't have to worry about losing them and so they are light.
Camera positions are as follows, 1 in each turret, one in the nose (leaving glass in place), aiming cam looking out through floor in nose and main flight cam is sticking out of the window just in front the nose bubble. I tried to find a location that would be hidden and provide a good fov but cane to the conclusion that seeing 1 camera while it's sitting on the ground was a sacrifice I was OK with. The view from the cockpit was terrible.
 

Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes

Legendary member
Good advice and ideas.
The bomb bay is as far forward as I could make it as I had to add wing joining spars forward and aft of it. The cg for this plane is 35-40mm from the leading edge. If I put the bay centered on that it would be half in fuse and half in wing. Meaning the wing would have to be permanently fitted. That makes it too big to transport. I did consider the option of making each wing removable and permanently fixing the centre section. But it was going to be a ridiculous amount of work to make that work and be reliable.
Yes the bombs are 3d printed, so I don't have to worry about losing them and so they are light.
Camera positions are as follows, 1 in each turret, one in the nose (leaving glass in place), aiming cam looking out through floor in nose and main flight cam is sticking out of the window just in front the nose bubble. I tried to find a location that would be hidden and provide a good fov but cane to the conclusion that seeing 1 camera while it's sitting on the ground was a sacrifice I was OK with. The view from the cockpit was terrible.
If it was a G model you could've hidden a camera in one of the machine gun blisters in the nose. I guess I was a bit late, you seem to have figured everything out. It's coming along nicely.
 

shadeyB

Legendary member
Hey ya'll,
Currently planning and building something a bit different.
I'm turning my B-17 into a multi person crewed fpv bomber.
3x rx's, 3x vtx's, 5x cameras, 3x camera switchers, 15x servos, 4x motors, 4x esc's, 1x 5v bec and a partridge in a pear tree.

Here's how it'll work.
The "gunner" will have 360° pan and 90° tilt on the top and ball turrets, a camera in each. He'll be able to switch camera feed and control between the two.

The "bombardier" will have an idle camera position in the nose and another downward facing camera in the belly. He'll also control the bomb bay doors and the dropping of 6 bombs.

The "pilot" controls the plane. Will have a cockpit view and also one of the other camera positions (not sure which one yet). There'll be a flight controller on board to hold altitude and speed for bombing runs.

If there is any interest in following this I'll keep posting with updates, otherwise you will be able to see the finished product
on my youtube channel MUD-DART RC...........when I finally get er done.

hey pilot I can’t wait to see the final product and subsequent following videos 😍
wiring on that girl is a drama most of the time never mind with all these cameras n kit your now adding
in all ma planes I’ve built and flown so far ... my “Bessie” B-17 bit-o-lace is the only one I have not put camera in as yet... now I need to 😉

ive had her for 7 years now and she’s my pride n joy even though I’ve only flown her 3 times now. Ripped her landing gear off on stupid landing (my thumbs were shaking like mad) another crash was on take off with a tip stall 😭😭
I realised I had not enough experience to fly her back then and ready to take her out now 6 years later, when lockdown lifts.
A45DDC34-D324-4915-825C-98CF47100521.jpeg

I’ve got replacement props arriving on Tuesday this week with more Covid19 Foam Board to keep me occupied
Bessie is the 2 meter wing span B-17G version and getting original spares is near impossible these days as most bombers produced now are the 1.8 meters.
F048E707-4735-4EAA-8B59-176E4EE4FE07.jpeg 39FAE64D-F80D-48EB-B868-E8F239CF975F.jpeg C676126D-546F-48B3-820D-5A821C458D92.jpeg
she’s gorgeous in the air and can’t wait to get her back where she belongs .
watching your thread and build with excitement
embarrassing video here ☺️
 

Mclags

Active member
hey pilot I can’t wait to see the final product and subsequent following videos 😍
wiring on that girl is a drama most of the time never mind with all these cameras n kit your now adding
in all ma planes I’ve built and flown so far ... my “Bessie” B-17 bit-o-lace is the only one I have not put camera in as yet... now I need to 😉

ive had her for 7 years now and she’s my pride n joy even though I’ve only flown her 3 times now. Ripped her landing gear off on stupid landing (my thumbs were shaking like mad) another crash was on take off with a tip stall 😭😭
I realised I had not enough experience to fly her back then and ready to take her out now 6 years later, when lockdown lifts.
View attachment 166341
I’ve got replacement props arriving on Tuesday this week with more Covid19 Foam Board to keep me occupied
Bessie is the 2 meter wing span B-17G version and getting original spares is near impossible these days as most bombers produced now are the 1.8 meters.
View attachment 166342 View attachment 166343 View attachment 166344
she’s gorgeous in the air and can’t wait to get her back where she belongs .
watching your thread and build with excitement
embarrassing video here ☺️
Love it mate! That's a beautiful bird!
I am dreading the maiden already. Been about 4 years since I flew a warbird last. That was my old 1400mm Spitfire and Corsair. One crashed the other sold as I moved into fpv. I got given this B-17 so thought I had better do something crazy with it, something I hadn't seen before in scale or fpv.
She was originally the Liberty Belle but was missing the chin turret. So my ocd had to change everything to fit the variant 🤣🤣.
 

shadeyB

Legendary member
Love it mate! That's a beautiful bird!
I am dreading the maiden already. Been about 4 years since I flew a warbird last. That was my old 1400mm Spitfire and Corsair. One crashed the other sold as I moved into fpv. I got given this B-17 so thought I had better do something crazy with it, something I hadn't seen before in scale or fpv.
She was originally the Liberty Belle but was missing the chin turret. So my ocd had to change everything to fit the variant 🤣🤣.
Thanks Mclags
in all honesty she’s a big floater in the air, far from The movement’s or jitters are far from your standard warbird. i thrash my warbirds about the sky now and can’t wait to get her up and have some gorgeous scale flights.
if your FPV with her ..... CANT WAIT TO SEE VIDEO 😁
also want to get into FPV for my planes also but tha much out on the market I no idea where to start lol

when you hoping for maiden
 
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Mclags

Active member
Thanks Mclags
in all honesty she’s a big floater in the air, far from The movement’s or jitters from your standard warbird. i thrash my warbirds about the sky now and can’t wait to get her up and have some gorgeous scale flights.
if your FPV with her ..... CANT WAIT TO SEE VIDEO 😁
also want to get into FPV for my planes also but tha much out on the market I no idea where to start lol

when you hoping for maiden
There's actually 3 fpv systems and 3 control systems in her mate. Pilot, bombardier and gunner all have independent control and video feeds.
I'm still about a 3 weeks to a month off maiden and we're heading into winter now down here so it'll be weather dependent once she's ready to go.
 

shadeyB

Legendary member
here’s another embarrassing video 😭😭😭
I cringe when I see it now , 6 years ago no pre flight check, no real understanding wtf I was doing other than out flying with my brothers and having fun.
Failed to check aileron input direction
my initial flights/crash response is very detailed 😉😂😂😂🎮💫✈️💥🔥
 

Mclags

Active member
Righto, spent the last couple of days sorting out inav and the tx.
When I first fired everything up, every servo was going backwards lol. That's a good sign. Trouble now means less later......well in my head at least.
Somehow I totally fluked all the esc to motor connections and all 4 motors rotated the right way! Usually I can't even get that right with one motor!
Nav/landing lights are now only working when gear is down. All throws and limits set, 3 stage flaps set.
The only real hiccup at this point is the differential thrust.
Seems that its not supported in iNav yet.
So we'll just have to see how it taxis without it.
Still a heap of work to do yet but the list is getting shorter and pile of parts is getting smaller.
Mainly just tidying up wiring, mounting cameras and a heap of superficial stuff like finishing the painting etc. I'll get some pics up in the next few days.
 

Hondo76251

Legendary member
I think it's fun looking back to see how far you've come. Hows the saying go?
"Dont worry about being better than someone else, just focus on being better than you were yesterday."

Im no expert on flight controllers, and there's nothing wrong with using iNav, but now that I've been using a pixhawk with mission planner and arduplane I dont think I'd be able to use iNav again. Nowadays, when I want simple, I go with the zohd kopilot lite just to have stabilization and RTH. If I want more I go for the pixhawk.

One of my favorite features is using the radio modem link to the pixhawk to control the extra servo functions. Just the touch of a button on my phone! No need to worry if the receiver has enough channels.
 

Mclags

Active member
Concentrated on finishing something today. Not quite there but close.
Got top side of wings painted, marking on, cowls painted, engines painted and prop tips painted.
20200420_204510.jpg

Just gotta paint the red circles and some soot from the engine exhausts then the top side is done.
New Zealand is going down to level 3 restrictions next Tuesday so I may be able to go out and get more grey paint for the underside, and some black paint for the de-icing bags on the wings and tail.
Habe to do a little work on the landing gear tomorrow.
One strut is a bit loose and the other sides mount is not as sturdy as I'd like.
 

Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes

Legendary member
Concentrated on finishing something today. Not quite there but close.
Got top side of wings painted, marking on, cowls painted, engines painted and prop tips painted.
View attachment 166676
Just gotta paint the red circles and some soot from the engine exhausts then the top side is done.
New Zealand is going down to level 3 restrictions next Tuesday so I may be able to go out and get more grey paint for the underside, and some black paint for the de-icing bags on the wings and tail.
Habe to do a little work on the landing gear tomorrow.
One strut is a bit loose and the other sides mount is not as sturdy as I'd like.
Looks good!
 

shadeyB

Legendary member
Concentrated on finishing something today. Not quite there but close.
Got top side of wings painted, marking on, cowls painted, engines painted and prop tips painted.
View attachment 166676
Just gotta paint the red circles and some soot from the engine exhausts then the top side is done.
New Zealand is going down to level 3 restrictions next Tuesday so I may be able to go out and get more grey paint for the underside, and some black paint for the de-icing bags on the wings and tail.
Habe to do a little work on the landing gear tomorrow.
One strut is a bit loose and the other sides mount is not as sturdy as I'd like.
Love the wiring harness 😁🤪✈️
 

Mclags

Active member
Hey lads, well I got that landing gear all sturdied up. Previous owner had made a shambles of an easy repair so it took me about 2 hours to undo his work and do it right.
So with that the wings are finished except for paint of course.

Back to the fuselage.

I drew up a mold in fusion360 for my buddy to print so I can give it to another buddy to use it to vacuum form a bubble for the top turret.
I tried extending and re-using the original one but I made a total hash of it so started from scratch.
20200425_144818[1].jpg

Had to lengthen a couple of wires in the cockpit to get them out of the way of the batteries, and it's here that I'm after some ideas from ya'll.

With the fc, 3x cameras, 2x camera switchers, vtx and antenna all up there, I need a way to mount the batteries.
I was thinking a thin plywood floor but alas I have no materials and wont be able to get anything for at least another 2 weeks.
I do have some scrap epo around tho.
Have a look at the pic below, yes the wiring is a mess right now but that'll either be tidied up or put out of sight and forgotten lol.
b17.jpg

Comment with any ideas please guys.