Marcus

@Jeff Glasser: I am using Eurokit Medium retracts with scale oleos from Slough Model Centre. @Shaun Chant: We drilled two holes in the front of the wing, and two in the frame in front of the wing and glued dowels into the wing. Then we glued a large wood block inside the fuselage to support the nylon bolts at the back of the wing.   @Sheldon Holy: What sort of bad things about the servos? We have tested them before we put them in and they seem fine. I will add the gun turrets and some crew where they can be seen, but there is not much space in the fuselage with all the wiring in. It may have to be some Playmobil men chopped in half for the brave flight crew.   Thanks, Marcus

Tips? Make sure all the wiring is in before skining the wing, and make sure that the ESC to Motor wires are secured outside of the cowls so they cannot fall back in. Make sure you have provisions for a removable wing, as the B-17 is very large when completed so a de-mountable wing is a necessary.   Regards, Marcus

Wow, thanks for the chance

Hello all! Apologies for my lack of updates, work has not been happening very fast and I simply haven't updated the build log. A series of pictures then, to get up to date.   ESC/ Gear installation.   Sheeted and ready for motor installation   Motors/Props/Cowl mock up. Before innards installation Systems installation Top decking, ready for cockpit details   Thanks, Marcus  

I admit that the majority of things are made in china but this is due to the much lower labour rates than in Britain. There are British things, but you just need to know where to look. Gemma is building her company, and BritFlight has started up, so there must be some business here. I attribute the lack of British businesses due to a lack of interest. If you were offered two identical planes, but one was Chinese and cost £50 or a British one that costs £80, which do you think people (new or experienced) would choose?

Me and my dad had this problem when ordering Eurokit retracts. They were listed on the website and they recieved the order but they did not do anything about it. After some time we rang and it turns out that they were not in stock. However, no money was taken.   Marcus

Has anyone noticed the date? And look at the finger that is over the iPhone. It is very pixelated and looks like it has been cut/pasted there...

Next update: The wing! At the moment my Dad is planing the front strip to be ready to get the leading edge.

Hello all. Sorry about the lack of  updates, but I haven't made much progress, namely for the things my Dad mentioned. This is the main reason not much prgress has been made:   Tamiya Toyota Tundra. Three speed gearbox, weighs about 4 kilograms with battery.   Anyway, back on with the build. We have now made the fin and tailplane, so the next job is either to build the wing, or skin the fuselage. Also, since I revieved some BRC vouchers for my birthday, I am going to order these motors which should be easily powerful enough.

My Dad and I have have built a Galaxy Models Twin Scorpion, and I was wondering if it needs a gyro in it. Any thoughts? And if so, what gyro should we use?

1. FMA IA-58 Pucara 2. Westland Wyvern 3. Antonov An-2 Colt

People are reading this!  Indeed more stuff is on it's way. Both fuselage sides are now finished, so all it is for them to be glued together! We covered the rear spine pieces in 15 minute epoxy, and clamped them together. The reason so many clamps are used is that my luvverly fuselage was bowed under the tension from the stringers. And the nose was even more bowed!!! (Lots more clamps needed, I knew buying loads was a good idea) Jonathon: Yeah, I've got all of the Il2 series so I'm off to look for some noseart. And then put it on a '17, of course! KB:  The link is available on Tony's webpage here . Hope this helps! Jeff: Well, until recently I couldn't find any other build blogs on the Nijhuis B-17. Then I found Mudflaps, which is very good.

This is the build blog for my new project, the Tony Nijhuis B-17. I have a documentary on the B-17 at home, and it has always been a favourite aircraft of mine. Then, while trawling the interwebs, I found Mr Nijhuis' website, and saw the kit. It became one of those models I really wanted, along with the Top Flite Beech Bonanza. Anyway, I was at Cosford this year and saw the SLEC tent. I walked in, and saw the models hanging from the roof. I asked Mr Nijhuis which flew best and he said the B-17. So I then walked out of the tent with a full CNC kit and mouldings and a really big grin. Right, anyone who hasn't just fallen asleep. Let's look at the build. Ooh look, lots of lovely ready cut parts! With the build article printed out of RCM&E, I read through the plans, and decided to start with the fuselage. I cut out the ribs and spine pieces with a keyhole saw, and sanded them smooth. Useful point 1: Ths plastic bag the sheet wood is in make a great plan cover. So with the plan taped out, my Dad and I pinned the spine pieces out and laid the ribs on top of them. They fit together well but be careful as a couple of formers are very similar sizes, and they only fit one way up! Once the formers are glued into place we added the balsa spars. They don't run the full length of the fusealge so two had to be joined together. My Dad sawed notches into the inside of the spars to bend them around the nice curvy nose. I'm already trying to think of a colour scheme and noseart. Any suggestions? I'm thinking possibly silver or dark green with a silver underside. In regards to motors and batteries, I'm going to build as musch as possible before weighing the airframe. Servos are going to be TowerPro MG16R 18 gram 2.7 kilos torque jobbies. Radio? Possibly a Spektrum, set definitely 2.4 gigs.

Firstly, has anyone else built the Nijuis B-17? I bought one at cosford and I don't know what to do about retracts. Anyone know of a solution? Maybe Mr Nijhuis himself, who knows!

It's the Tony Nijhuis B-17, I'm just starting to build one myself!