DJ AeroTech's "Roadkill" B-17
I enjoyed the build of my Roadkill B-17
Will be looking forward to building more of this model line in the future. Thanks Don and Joe!
I found that some of the photos in the instruction booklet were either small or did not include enough surrounding area to locate parts easily. Possibly, the following will help in your B-17 build..
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Dump out the box and ID all the parts.. Those 2 round looking discs on the left are wheels used for grass landings.
Wing sheeting is already glued together in this pic.
Various ribs, doublers, and of course, those 2 round discs at the top left of the pic... Took me a long time to figure out they were retracted wheels! : )
Cut all the ribs loose, sand them lightly so they slide in the spar sheeting easily. Cutting and sorting them out of the various sheets gets you ready for building. There are 4 of the one paticular size where the outer panels meet the inner panel.
Here you are, all lined up and ready for gluing. Make sure the ribs are straight as they loacte the motor mounts later in the build.
Sheeting is installed next. I am sure it will sheet well as instructed. I modified how I applied the sheeting only because of my years of sheeting habits. Make sure to keep the ribs staight and in line...you will be fine.
Measure the wing carefully until it is level and square, then glue to fuselage. The motor doublers are in place here also. Very nice bit of wood cutting and perfect fit right out of the box..this is great!
Tailwheel doublers, aileron control horns, and aileron bellcranks are shown. Make sure not to install the pivot pin for the bellcranks until all linkage is installed and adjusted. The pivot pin will be installed through the top sheeting later.
A motor kit at the top of the photo. A completed unit at the bottom. These assemble very nicely.
I used a needle ( with thread, should I drop it ) to open the holes in the motor tabs. I then threaded the capacitors through the holes and soldered the capacitors to the motors and left a bit of capacitor lead to solder wires to later.
Here the Rudder, Aileron, and Elevator servos are installed and connected. These are GWS brand Naro servos at approx 9 grams each. 6 gram Pico servos should be fine also. HitecHS55 or 81's would be great.
I wrapped the servos with high grade masking tape and used Shoe Goo to glue them in place.
Tail wheel pic in instruction booklet is incorrect. Bend your tailwheel wire so the wheel is under the fuse. Tape your rudder on the left side so the rudder torque rod can be glued to the rudder on the right side. I guessed wrong and had to remove tape.
Bellcranks work fantastic. I'm amazed at how well the design allows use of .020 music wire controls..well done!
There is plenty of wire, tubing, and heat shrink for the build. I ended up with plenty left over.
The 3 control servos and the 2 bomb drops shown in the open postion.
Now the 2 bomb drops are shown in the closed, or "bombs contained" postion.
Here is the bomb servo. It is raised off the sheeting enough to allow a control wire on the top and bottom to control the 2 bomb drops. A sharpened piece of music wire was used to make a hole in the ribs for the far bomb drop.
Motor wiring all soldered in place. Next was to use a spot of hot glue to hold the wiring to the front edge of the wing.
The wiring schematic in the instructions is well written. Mine draws approx 4 amps wide open.
This shot shows the whole works, including a GWS 6chl receiver. Lateral balance required an 1/8th oz. on the right wing panel. My 1200 mah 2 cell Lipo pack on the nose took care of the CG perfectly.
I am testing with an ICS100 ( 5amp) ESC but will fly with an ICS 300 ( 8 amp ).
I sanded and steel wooled the paint until nasty looking ( realistic! ) and am in the process of applying decals. Flight report soon as I find dry pavement..
That is the build for now... 1-6-05. Flight report when weather permits
Ready to fly at 12.4 oz. I could / should have been 1 oz lighter if I had used Pico servos @ 3 grams ea. lighter than the Naro's I did use. I also bouched the intial paint job and had to repaint..wasted a good 1/2 oz there as well.
A few decals were added out of the junk box and the 17 looks fantastic, if I say so myself! This is the "before" pic just in case.....
On Jan. 16th '05 the 17 was set on the frozen runway of the Topeka soccer field for its maiden flight. The field had thawed and refrozen to a glare of ice that was even dagerous to stand on. The slightest breeze caused the 17 to weathervane while setting still.
Off she flew ever so gracefully. Climb out was gentle but it flew well with the 6 each 500 pounders loaded onto its bomb racks.
This mission was being flown at 18 degrees F. Not at cold as an actual mission but my fingers were frozen none the less. I could hardly imagine an 8 - 10 hour mission.
On the return trip home we took an errant hit just off the coast. While it was a bit of bad luck, it shot out the number 1 engine and started a fire which was hard to control. No one wanted to bail over water so we rode it out.
With friendly ground under us all bailed to safety except myself and the flight engineer, Ross. He stayed with me to help coax the wounded ship in to the frozen field below. As I looked on.... I piloted the 17 to the far side of the strip for a safe landing... It was only my first mission I was already praising the folks that designed this ship... I could want no more.
On the ground and kneeling on mother earth I was overjoyed. I was alive, my 17 was intact, and all the crew was still unharmed. I pity those that do not have this fabulous airplane...
In time I hope to complete my 25 missions and be around to tell of the success. We are off to a fantastic start!
