Hobby Lobby B-17 Update

Hobby Lobby B-17 Update

Well, we finally did it. The weather finally cooperated and we were able to commit aviation with the new B-17 and wow is it a blast ! It has gobs of power and it handles mild to moderate wind gusts pretty well. It seems to have momentum and it penetrates nicely.

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Hobby Lobby B-17 Update

Flaps are good but I shot all my landings without the flaps because of the weather (wind). Once you fly with 4-engine bomber, you’ll be hooked!

One piece of advice is that when you assemble the wing and install the engine nacelles, you should check the motor rotations.

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Hobby Lobby B-17 Update

What you want is to have the tops of all the props turning outboard away from the fuselage that means while looking at the plane from the tail, the left motors turn counter clockwise and the right side motors are turning clockwise. This bit of setup advice comes from Hobby Lobby’s Jason Cole. He says they tried all sorts of prop rotation configurations and this is the best as it affects the elevator trim and response the least.

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Hobby Lobby B-17 Update

Motor Control

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Hobby Lobby B-17 Update  Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Hobby Lobby B-17 Update

One unusual thing about  multi-engine bombers that are electric power is that with all the servos (7) and the electric-powered retracts, you will want to use a separate Battery Eliminator Circuit instead of powering your receiver from one of the four ESCs. There are several units available and you can’t go wrong with either the 6amp ERCBEC6 from Hobby Lobby or the Castle Creations 10A BEC.

With either unit, installation is easy. First disconnect each of the red wires in the servo leads from all four ESCs. Then plug the servo lead coming from the BEC unit into one of the open auxiliary channel ports in your receiver. Solder the black and red power wires from the BEC to one of the connectors at one of the Y-harnesses connecting one of the battery packs to one of the ESCs. This allows the power of the battery pack to be fed directly to the receiver so all servos (and the receiver) always see the proper amount of power. Do not just remove the single red wire from the 4-into-1 Y-harness. All the red leads from all the ESCs should be disabled!

At the flying field the model’s assembly takes only a few minutes as the motor wire harness must to be slipped through the fuselage before attaching the wing. 6-bolts hold it securely in place. After the wing is screwed on, you flip the model right-side up and connect the throttle lead and you’re ready to go. Leave both battery packs unplugged until you are ready to fly.

Watch for my flight report/review of the B-17 in the July issue of MAN. (its on the cover too, so you can’t miss it!)

Updated: July 15, 2015 — 5:04 PM

2 Comments

  1. i want to prepare a RC plane this can u plzzzz……send me the details of material used and how it is prepare it, if possible videos……..(bhagamraviteja.1232@gmail.com)

  2. I am new to this hobby but find that I an enjoying the “building” of a model more fun then actually flying them.My question is ,, do you have …Builder hand books ” that tell you in’s and out’s to building R/C models. I’m not to fimeuler with all the tech of wing design and body air flow and things like that . I do look up things on line to get my answers. So far I have assembled three trainers and have added small tricks to hold gas tanks firmly in place. Stronger landing gear setup.axtra clear wildows so you can see the fuel tank ,as to capasity of fuel . Also made my own “Stands ” to hold my models in the position I want when building.. Well, i do hope you can help me with any thing you see I may ned ….Thanks

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