Sometimes the bear eats you.

[QuietOne]

In the winter of '08/'09 Mike built a radio control flying B-17, complete with 4 working electric motors. It was a thing of beauty, and he looked forward to flying it.

Here it is in the classic "Man Holding Airplane" shot.
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He worked up a breadboard to test all of his connections and controls.
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The frame was balsa wood, an interesting subject in its own right. (Note the appropriateness of the display stand)
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[QuietOne]

Near completion.
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And here is a closeup of the nose.
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This was a Guillows 39" wingspan kit designed for display or for flying on a control line in a circle with 2 gas motors. The conversion to electric radio control has been done before.

[QuietOne]

The day finally came. He flew it for the first time. The model was very badly out of trim. He flew for about 5 minutes and made a successful landing. About 4 days later after some adjustments to the model it was flown again. After 30 seconds in the air, a slight trim adjustment was made. The model flipped over suddenly and smashed to the ground.

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All the electronics survived, except for one electric motor. He has another identical kit but hasn't had the heart to start it yet.

Like I said, sometimes the bear wins.

[Iguanasan]

Wow, I can't imagine the patience required to build something of that complexity only to have it smash to bits. :eek:

I hope future builds if he has the heart for it, last a lot longer!

[Greg_Nuspel]

I fly RC so I know how he feels, hours of work lost in a moment of time. It's still a fun hobby though so I hope he gets back to it.

[QuietOne]

Mike wanted me to update you on this. He let it sit for a year. He's finally started to rebuild it. Photos of the work in progress.
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