Oshkosh Departures (Bally's Bomber!) - Sunday Part 1 - EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021 

I seen them every morning and occasionally they fly over my house low enough I can read the tail number

Bally's Bomber at 2:54

The man who built it was, sadly he passed in 2020 and the man flying it now is the new owner.

He spent 30 years building it and only lived a few years after it was finished. And, strangely, he never flew it himself because he wasn't rated for multi-engine and it could only seat one.

@@ReptileRescue I'm glad he built the plane, though it seems a bit pointless to spend all that money over such a long time for a vehicle he couldn't fly. At least the new owner can.

Imagine all the famous ww2 bombers built like this , the lancaster, the he111 the b29, rhe pe8 , it would be amazing

@@Phaota Then, you just don't get it. 🙏

..Looks like an R/C B-17, that happens to be big enough to accommodate a pilot...

Is that b17 actually a flying airplane?

I think that is Jack Bally's B-17 he built in his garage by hand. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E-1_JwlHO-8.html

Even the sound was cool.

Sounds like two stroke engines.

Same here. Looks underpowered despite 4 engines.

Its takeoff was so scary

The Bally's Bomber miniature B-17 is one of the most wonderful man-made things I've ever seen or heard of AND looks entirely airworthy and fun to fly, but it may also be as uncomfortable or quirky as the aesthetically-pleasing but not for long trips Oscar Meyer Weiner-Mobile. But the BEST parts of this phenomenal thing is it was built, single-handed using just flying model specifications and plans scaled UP 3 times in every way to make the whole thing work. Then modifications using off-the-shelf components, engines, systems and such were adjusted and added as necessary to make it all airworthy and legal. The whole concept is unprecedented, brilliant, masterful in so many ways - and repeatable!

I low key wanna know what it was before those mods..

Would love to know what engines that B-17 is using. Large scale RC radial engines? What fits in those cowls?

It was upscaled from an rc design!

Yep... one guy spent 17 years building it. That's some serious effort right there...

make it a fighter!

Dropping grenades instead of bombs!

It would be the best way to compromise German AA flaks aim. =D

@@georgysb ... definitly. Though I´m not sure how this tiny Fortress reacts on some FW190.

@@Barrawitzkaa fighters wouldn't find it as ground observers would tell it flies 10km high while it's only 2km high.

Well I guess it shouldn't surprise me that I 'run into you' at these various other channels since we obviously have some similar views, likes, etc. Stay safe!

@@johncashwell1024 algorithm

very sad to hear of his passing, at least he got to see his treasure fly.

When did he die?

Im sure it was after taking the pincher :(

You and me both- Awesome!👍

That is EXACTLY what he did...he took RC model plans and blew them up...drank a lot of beer and fabricated EVERYTHING! I followed the whole project start to finish. Absolutely wonderful workmanship. There is another airplane out there with the same type of background...it's called the QED GeeBee absolutely gorgeous!

😂

That’s how literally most of them operated during WW2. Such a fan but didn’t do any research?

@@bigbcor Rubbish, it was SOP in both the USAAF and RAF for all multi-engined aircraft to start all of their engines prior to departing from their hardstand to ensure these were all operating. Any aircraft which had engine defects were automatically scrubbed from a mission and never permitted to enter onto a common taxiway and thereby interfere with and possibly delay other ground traffic and engines were never stopped once started as doing so unnecessarily risked these not starting again. 'Research' indeed SMH.

@@harryricochet8134 Just to reply/elaborate on all 3 comments- AFTER LANDING it was common for inboards to be shut down to allow the pilot to steer the a/c easily on #1 and #4 throttles....after all, if you're below a speed where there's decent rudder authority in a tail dragger or a trike u/c without nosewheel steering, a 4 engined heavy is a fat clumsy lummox while on the ground. As regards takeoff- all 4 should really be warmed up equally before the a/c even moves, even on modern reliable engines.

Dwarf B17 beautiful.....but seemingly would be less of a handful with more horsepower.

@@thephilpott2194 My op didn't refer to post-landing taxiing procedures which are entirely immaterial to it as well as the comment that I replied to which itself was categorically incorrect in respect to the claims it made regarding pre-flight taxiing procedure that was mentioned within the originating post of this subthread. I don't know what the intended purpose of your comment is other than a testament to your own deficient reading comprehension skills.

Doesn't that make it even more scale -- like The Real Thing, overloaded with bombs for Adolf, and enough fuel to get it there. (And maybe even Back to England.)

@@richardjensen2769 the true b17 had plenty of power to do a graass roll over loaded....annd fly at 24000 feet at ground speed of probable 350mph....thaat experimental does look undeer powered, but the taail does not seem to get airborn very easily i would like to comapre the center of graviity between the real and the x.

The

@@JohnDoe-nd9mv B17 top speed 287mph, cruise speed 182 mph.

@@nomdeplume2117 Maximum 300 mph. at 30,000 ft.Maximum continuous263 mph. at 25,000 ft.Cruising speed170 mph.Landing74 mph.Rate of Climb37 minutes to 20,000 ft.

Now I wanna build an SR-71 like that! 😎

I want a miniature YF-23 now

RC planes and jets keep getting bigger and bigger it doesn't surprise me that someone finally put a chair in the front

@@unkulwilly Always wondered when it would happen - couldn’t have picked a much cooler plane, gotta get me one 👍

@@hidel308 if you do, got to call it Rosebud.

TBH, I'd expect them to pay attention to their flying when taking a pilot's test - your mere presence *should* cause them to be as "professional" as they can be - don't want to taxi into a ladder rubber-necking the p-51 after all.

@@muninrob Thank you for your comments. To my mind a key part of professionalism is about awareness and communication. Regarding a check ride as being scrutinised by an inhuman being from another planet is one sure source of additional self-imposed stress, in an already stressful situation.

@@tomarmstrong1281 Yup - raw nerves keep more pilots out of an H-60's pilot seat than technical skills

So THATS what that was. I thought it was some manner of civilian Caproni (which would, IMO, automatically win Oshkosh best plane if done well)

I love the reverse canter of the windshield looks really tough, but probably doesn't help airflow much

Thanks for the comment, was wondering what that was.

I thought so too, all the flight characteristics of not enough thrust. But an awesome build nonetheless. Sad to find out Jack passed away RIP you maniac.

Well it has a full bomb load! Lol

lots of drag and small wing sa. 180hp though so should have plenty of power

IKR. 4 engines.... it should be off like a rocket

It looked underpowered and tail-heavy. I'm not sure of the flight characteristics of the B-17 but even after he had leveled out it looked nose high...or maybe he was yet to trim the aircraft. Who knows? I'm not pretending to be an expert, just an observer.

One of those little model A's as a tow/tug made up like an old military 🪖 ambulance or something like that would be very cool 😎..lol...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 🤠

Oooh, you are scary. But I can picture it flying down main street USA during the 4th of July parade dropping sticks of sugar bombs.

@@WilliamRWarrenJr The Bally Bomber always looks like it's flying tail heavy to me. I hope the actual weight and balance works out better than it appears to be. 🧐

That would be AMAZING. Or a Mosquito. Trimotor was gorgeous.

@@richsmith7769 wasn’t it? Awesome. And yes, the mosquito has to be one of the best looking planes of WW2.

@@nickraschke4737 or something really exotic like a Beaufighter, or Gannett. I love Gannetts, guess I'm just a weird American. A lot of us over here........weird ones, I mean.

@@richsmith7769 Hahahaha 😊 What an interesting plane the Gannet was. Getting those folding wings right would be interesting!

@@nickraschke4737 and you could probably fly it standing up..........rudders would be tricky.....damn, another bad joke.......

Looks like a real, fully loaded B17 taking off.

If I remember correctly he built this from upscaling an rc version rather than down sizing an actual b-17. Very cool plane

Not sure how much washout in wing/airfoil profile, thick bulbous profile can tolerate higher angle of attack..will look as I re-watch!😁 *AOA/Climb looked ok, fat wing does make it look like more than 5-6° angle as he was @ low far from camera.. was probably @ best angle climb.. origional built as a long range bomber, not a T&Go plane for sure! ..so takeoffs & landings would be pretty darn FLAT.. LIKE A HEAVY LOAD GLIDER WITH POWER!🤣👍

It is underpowered

Looks tail heavy

there is a video talking about its making and first flights, the builder wanted to keep everything to scale, not everything works to scale, the props are to small and it barely makes enough thrust, notice how long the take off role was and the engines were really revving hi

Overloaded and has one bad wheel

Yeah. Cute idea but looks like it handles terribly.

I appreciate the mans "True ti scale" but that beauty is way under powered! It may cost him one day!

It took the builder 20 years to finish the B-17, but he died not long afterwards. Huge amount of work went into the design and construction.

A P-61 replica would be awesome no matter what scale!

Kermit Weeks had a video a while back of a guy building a 60% i think p-47. With a Warner radial

I heard that apparently Mr Bally started off wanting to do a B-24 but wrote the idea off due to tail weight. Something to do with every time the pilot would get out it would likely have tipped back on the mains and stuck its nose in the air. Which would likely make any tricycle design hard unless you could find a way to really lighten the tail. And like ziggy said it took him 20 years. Though I don't know how hard or fast he was working at the project. I imagine if someone went full time on it they might pull it off quicker with the right gear. But, as with many things worth while they require 3 things. time, money, and skills(or willingness to learn em).

B-36. I'm 27 so let's see if I can do it before I die

For the person who wants to wage war against a very small country.

@@davidedmundson8402 Liechtenstein and Andorra better amp-up their anti-aircraft batteries.

Neither did I, and then I found out that it was built less than 15 miles from me! I recently found out that someone has been rebuilding a real B-17 for over a decade not far from where I work. So cool

Yes it is a first and only, built from scaled up r/c plans every piece fabricated by hand by a fantastic craftsman named Jack Bally.

My neighbor has a Aerosport Scamp it's a experimental biplane. So no license is necessary....from Wyoming USA 🇺🇲🤠 I could send pictures, but only know how to text them.

It was a pleasure to read of your good experience and values with the Flying Forts. That WAS money well-spent, an investment in quality life experience - which IS what it's ALL about. Those Forts saved our sorry butts in WW2 and that techno-miracle allowed us to HAVE most of what we enjoy(ed) in our lives - these very machines did that, from 20-year-old, slapped together panic driven design to the Flying Fortress warwinner she became - with an Air Force pilots and aircrews born(e) right along side. Well and timely said. Our head and hearts are in formation. May the fourth be with you and us.

@@jeffwalther3935 , absolutely humbling to fly in these machines in time of peace. Thinking about all these young men and women who boarded these advanced massive aircraft must have been overwhelming for a soldier who never even saw an engine running, let alone 4 enraged 1,200-horsepower Wright R-1820-97 radial engines, in time of war, loaded with a full bomb load and avgas. Over enemy territory, getting shot by fighters and flack. I was stressed out in time of peace, i can't imagine myself in their conditions in time of war. I would've been a total mess.

@@ayuse01 No Pat. Its not like that at all. If a soldier, you're entirely focused to win the war to getr any relifef youll ever enjoy. So being ". . . a total mess." is something almost EVERYBODY encounters and learns NOT to be. That's what boot camp is for - transition. If you're going into war, into the fight, you have to be almost singularly focused, unlike peaceful, civilian lifestyle you've only known and probably hardly imagine. As such, if you really anticipate going to war, you EMBRACE such training and orientation because it yields the best outcome no matter what happens. Such a reasonable attitude to the task at hand, war and combat, is just adjustment, which comes, unless there's something wrong with you.

I waited and waited for the Mantis but just got a view of Pitts instead.

True that! It wasn't a scaled-down version of the original; it was a scaled-up model from model plans.

Ugliest thing I have ever seen lol.

A.G.R.E.E.D - I think it's an AIR-CAM Seaplane

NOW, it's easier than ever. Jack shows ya how to do EVERYTHING. That's the hard part. You could do it to any size, any good airframe, with any suitable resources that Jack had - as much as 30 years ago. Its gotta be much easier today, thanks to JB and the pioneering he did to create the BB. Cheers! Happy landings!

@@jeffwalther3935 do tell!! Where do I get information?

@@aztecwarrior7678 The Jack Bally B-17 Bomber information in story form is on RU-vid. But Mr. Bally's achievement is he did it himself, with his main information/instructions from a RC model B-17 and multiplied all the measurements by 3 to get an aircraft 3 times larger that could carry 1-2 persons. Then he simply installed all the controls, devices, engines, systems and gear from conventional, production, general aviation aircraft as he needed until the aircraft was safe, reliable, tested as airworthy. That's all the information Jack developed and needed. It can be done with any airworthy airframe design, really. Mr. Bally, chose a complex design to start with and, with simplified plans like that, did it ALL alone. But he chose a model of a B-17G, the most developed of the B-17's unusually long, long, time-tested design, with tens of thousands of sorties to use for testing and evaluation of technologies to start with ingenious practical improvements ALREADY built into the B-17G that Jack took advantage of completely by just starting with the best Forts off the assembly line.

@@jeffwalther3935 i ALSO HAVE increased SIZE OF WOODEN MODELS , BUT TO THAT SIZE ! ITS AMZING. THANK YOU

@@aztecwarrior7678 It IS amazing on so many levels which we both get a big kick out of it all. Here's why, I think, Jack's experimental aircraft, idea, project and process are SO uniquely and spectacularly amazing: 1) he designed, built and figured out everything ALONE and with his own range of resources. THIS feat required a "renaissance man" skills set of theoretical and practical depth, breadth and scope of dozens of arts and sciences, e.g., aerodynamics, aviation logistical and materials, law, engines, all manner of time, materials and resources administration, . . . engineering, metallurgy, chemistry, medical physiology, military history, . . . etc. 2) he went backwards from the usual approach to such miniaturization, multiplying UP by a whole number, everywhere, consistently, instead of reducing DOWN wherever one can arbitrarily, thus building in the precise airworthiness ratios all the materials and parts relationships to each other in smaller form. THAT's the whole big key to doing it RIGHT is to preserve all those interrelationships in 1/3 the size. Even better, his experimental aircraft became more than than the sum of it's parts due to Jack's painstaking quest. It has become as much as a flying/working masterpiece of art; an expression of unspoken love, gratitude, honor and demonstration of individual patriotic devotion and even adoration, imho, too.

You do know there’s Lepp aviation who does that.

It's an Air Cam! Thanks for watching