May 3, 2010: Big Boy, Big Toy

[xoxoxoBruce]

Brit, Tony Nijhuis, like a zillion other people, built himself a model airplane.
But his 1/7th model of a B-50 bomber is so big... how big is it?

...it is classed as a light aircraft and had to be tested by the Civil Aviation Authority and requires a certificate to fly it at public shows.

It's not only capable of carrying mini-bombs, it's sneaky quiet.

'It's a model of the Boeing B-50 bomber that was used from the 1950s to the 1970s. It's all scratch built and has a wingspan of 19ft. 'It weighs just over 100lb and is powered by four, four kilowatt electric motors and each motor has 24 batteries powering it. The propellers have a 2ft diameter.
It has 96 batteries that power four electric motors which drive the aircraft to 40mph along a 50m runway before it takes off. It can then fly for eight minutes in the air before it has to descend so the batteries can be recharged.

I wonder if having to assemble a crew, and get government permission, takes some of the spontaneity from playing with this toy?

link