View Full Version : Really large B52 RC model
oddlycalm
06-23-04, 06:13 PM
Real turbine engines and all folks. The 9 minute video of startup-takeoff-flybys-landing is worth the trouble if you are into this sort of thing. Sounds just like the real article and flies just like one as well. This was a committed effort. I'm left wondering if there is a commercial source for what appear to be miniature gas turbines...? Also wondering what this monster weighs?
B52 videos and pictures (http://www.mcgirt.net/RC/VIDEOS/Giant_B52/)
http://www.mcgirt.net/RC/VIDEOS/Giant_B52/B_52_a.jpg
That is just amazing. I'd be incredibly nervous flying that thing after all the work put into it...
Opposite Lock
06-23-04, 06:24 PM
Wow! I wonder how much payload it can carry?
Joe in LA
06-23-04, 06:27 PM
Insane. I hope they haven't made miniature nukes to go with it.
oddlycalm
06-23-04, 06:29 PM
That is just amazing. I'd be incredibly nervous flying that thing after all the work put into it...
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I wouldn't want to be the pilot that flew it into the ground... :eek: Must have cost a small fortune.
I did notice that he keeps the speed up on final approach, probably because there is no way to get any indication of an impending stall. Took a pretty good bounce when it touched down, but I've seen the real ones do the same. It looked like he was a bit high and wide when he turned onto final, and he slips it to come down fast. I wonder if it has working flaps...?
oc
tomahawk
06-23-04, 06:31 PM
Very cool
Working flaps!
http://www.mcgirt.net/RC/VIDEOS/Giant_B52/B_52_i.jpg
oddlycalm
06-23-04, 06:40 PM
Working flaps!
Flaps indeed. I'd overlooked a couple of the still pictures. Unbelievable.
oc
Very cool. FWIW, TerreHaute Indiana is home to some master RC plane types.
I know a couple of them
Michaelhatesfans
06-23-04, 06:50 PM
Boeing should build a few of those, call them drones, and sell them to the Air Force for 3 million a pop. That should help out the Northwest economy!
Mr. Vengeance
06-23-04, 11:37 PM
In the same vein; you guys really need to see this. (http://www.michaelp.org/photos/cars/ferrari312.ram) (%*&$# real audio video clip).
1/3rd scale Ferrari 312... doesn't sound like much 'til you see the video. Absolutely incredible.
More info here. (http://www.fine-art-models.com/e/gallery/scerri/)
(The video clip's about 4 1/2 minutes long and just over a meg in size... If you haven't seen this already, take the time to download it. Amazing stuff).
There are few if any models in the world to rival the Ferrari 312PB built by Pierre Scerri of Avignon, France.
This 1/3 scale marvel is the real thing in every sense of the word, from its operating 12-cylinder engine to the exact scale operating Ferrari gauges which are calibrated precisely to indicate rpm, oil pressure, water temperature and oil temperature.
It took Pierre 15 years and more than 20,000 hours to build this car.
He learned to make glass so he could make the exact pattern lens for the operating headlights.
He learned to make rubber so he could mold his own tires.....
devilmaster
06-23-04, 11:46 PM
In the same vein; you guys really need to see this. (http://www.michaelp.org/photos/cars/ferrari312.ram) (%*&$# real audio video clip).
1/3rd scale Ferrari 312... doesn't sound like much 'til you see the video. Absolutely incredible.
More info here. (http://www.fine-art-models.com/e/gallery/scerri/)
(The video clip's about 4 1/2 minutes long and just over a meg in size... If you haven't seen this already, take the time to download it. Amazing stuff).
I always go back to this model every now and then.... I only wish I could find a better clip of this nowadays. Originally done years ago, it could be so much better quality for about the same size.
Steve
Mr. Vengeance
06-23-04, 11:53 PM
I always go back to this model every now and then.... I only wish I could find a better clip of this nowadays. Originally done years ago, it could be so much better quality for about the same size.
Steve
Absolutely.. I'd kill to see this thing full-screen. I've got a copy of this that I open up every now and then, and it still just amazes me. For someone as mechanically inept as I am, watching this is just mind blowing.
Here's a link to the guys who made the engines for the B52.
http://www.wren-turbines.com/
Amazing stuff.
oddlycalm
06-24-04, 02:44 PM
Thanks for posting the link to the Wren engines.
So, it appears that 8 of these little beauties plus the fuel system to run them cost around $27,000. Any guesses what these guys spent on the entire package? I suspect they must have had access to an autoclave for the composite work. If they had to buy one, that would make it that much more. Since they were working with a total of 96lbs. of thrust, the plane would have to have been made very light for it's size. I'd guess it would be fairly easy to spend $100,000 on a project like this, although if they have access to a machine shop and with 100% donated labor it may have come to less. Just the flap tracks must have cost plenty because I expect they had to use titanium for them and the landing gear beams. Must have taken forever to do all that machining as well.
I guess we know why it took such a large group, first to pay for it and also to do all the work involved. Now I'm left wondering how many of them managed to stay married for the duration... ;)
oc
Now I'm left wondering how many of them managed to stay married for the duration... ;)
oc
:laugh:
An autoclave might not have been necessary. I think a standard carbon fiber layup is something around 90% as strong as one that they goes into an autoclave.
I'm sure somebody on the team was a machinist. I sent the link to an RC buddy of mine and he spculated $40-$50K minimum. Very dedicated crew who built it. Hell the damned thing had landing lights on the main gear doors!!!
cartcanuck
06-25-04, 08:34 AM
In the same vein; you guys really need to see this. (http://www.michaelp.org/photos/cars/ferrari312.ram) (%*&$# real audio video clip).
1/3rd scale Ferrari 312... doesn't sound like much 'til you see the video. Absolutely incredible.
:eek: :eek:
This makes me wish I was 5 inches tall so I could go for a drive!!!
Amazing. A working engine, transmission, suspension, etc. Truly incredible.
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