I’m not familiar with the rules on that stuff but the pilot is superb. He kissed that plane down on the landing as smooth as silk and I was a bit antsy about whether it might ground loop, etc.
A guy in this area has an RC B-36 that I’ve seen fly a few times and it’s pretty cool to watch even though it’s not the size of the RC B-52.
At scale speeds it looks just like the real thing passing over.
Thanks for the link, @ok4450. Just the sound that thing makes is incredible. Better than a Ferrari.
I agree with you about the sound and can only imagine what it would be like standing there by the tarmac when it all happened.
The first flight must have been an incredible thrill for its builders, if also unbelievably nerve-wracking. Even though I knew nothing bad was going to happen, the takeoff and landing still had me holding my breath, especially as it veered off to the left right after taking off. The landing couldn’t have been more gorgeous. In my next life I’ll own one, along with my very own cave and a submarine. Have to dream about something. Might even have a few of my favorite cars.
Those were some great videos.
I remember my dad telling me that someone in our home town had build a replica B17 with the old Cox motors powering it and it had a 6 foot wingspan if I remember the story right. This would have been in the late 40s /early 50s.
This was back when you controlled it just by a couple of wires and it only flew a circle around you. They had one flight with it and landed it after a few laps around them. It was just too scary to fly and hard to handle.
I built a few single engine ones, but all mine ever did was a loop and crash. Too much wrist action on my part.
Yosemite
Even with all my experience, it still take me a while to build up the nerve to fly a brand new model, and the whole time of the first flight, I’m thinking about landing the plane. Sometimes I’m so nervous my hands shake.
Oh, man, is that gorgeous!!! Watching that video brought tears to my eyes and a flood of memories of the real thing. That is the most perfect miniature G-model I’ve ever seen by far. Videos like that make me miss my babies.
A million thanks, OK4450.
But we need to get back to cars or Carolyn will slap our wrists.
All cars seems drab by comparison…
A long time ago a guy in this area had an old Jeep CJ that had been outfitted with a set of wheels/tires from a B-52. I’ve seen it up close and didn’t have much of a chance to talk to the guy other than a few minutes. Needless to say it was illegal as sin to even be on a public road but he said he actually got very few citations; mostly warnings to park it or make it “normal” again.
He had 3 additional steps welded on each side to enable occupants to get in and out as the Jeep sat way high and it looked dangerously unstable to me. He said it was a decent driver but he never pushed the limits on it either. He also made mention of the steering being a bit heavy; go figure.
He must have been pushing 500hp just to get those things rolling. If he ever needs to change a flat he’ll have to call a fork lift. Manhandling those wheels is out of the question.
I don’t think that he had anything other than the stock engine in it. Of course the few times I saw him out with it he was never going faster than 30 MPH. His 0 to 30 time was probably measured in minutes; maybe a lot of them and likely the clutch life was short also.
No roll cage, no doors, no 3 point harness; why worry… 
Applause for his creativity.
In '71-'72 I had a '64 Fairlane, and I managed to obtain a gallon of the white paint they used to paint the bellies on our BUFFs (we had a daytime paint scheme). I was going to paint the Fairlane bomber-belly white, but I never got to it.
That would have been a very cool color to have considering the background on the paint. I’m a sucker for one-off stuff that no one else has and also a fan of the '64 Fairlanes.
To go along with the fantastic machining involved in those small engines I’ll add that I took a tour of the Tinker AFB Logistics Center some years ago and the machine tools they have there are mind boggling. They service everything from T-38s and F-16s up through C-5s and B2s s I guess having everything including the kitchen sink is a requirement.
It’s amazing to see a double edged razor blade snapped in half and then welded back together with a perfect near microscopic bead.
What’s amazing about those small engines is that they’re being turned out by hand with no reliance on CNC machinery. I’d be soaked in sweat and cross-eyed blind inside of an hour from sheer concentration…and likely in search of a new hobby.
We used to see a lot of very low level ferry flights back and forth from McConnell AFB in Wichita to Tinker; usually B-52s and KC-135s. They would always go low altitude and follow I-35.
Guess I’m veering again…
It’s hard not to. I’ve climbed up countless of hose tires that you mentioned to access the cabling and junction boxes (Boeing used the wheelwells for the J-boxes) as well as everywhere else on B-52s. I spent so much time on B-52s that I felt like I could rub its belly and it would tell me what hurt. The video almost brought tears to my eyes. KC-135s, well, the systems I worked on, automatic flight controls and navigation systems, (the BUFFs had stability systems too to coordinate the front end with the rear end and “startracker” navigation systems that the KCs didn;t have) really didn’t fail very often. Rarely, actually.
But, out of respect for Carolyn, who has been extremely kind and tolerant of this old warhorse, I’ll exercise discipline and try to keep it car-related. Man, I wish I had painted that Fairlane and wish I still had it… with its belly white paint.
Oh my! An awesome baby BUFF!!! 