Speaking of B-29's WOW!!

[Mark Allen M]

Looking at the video on the first Iwo B-29 landing, which was very sad to read, I saw this video. Yes it's an RC B-29 but man is that thing big. Most realistic RC plane I've ever seen. Look at how large it is on takeoff, almost looks like the real deal if the fellow with the control box wasn't standing there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU1T3rIw ... re=related

And what the heck? way too much time and money for this? Looks good but what do you do with it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQnuAvqM ... re=related

[brucev]

first link was footage from the late great Byron Originals airshow in Ida Grove IA, the show was a combination R/C aircraft and full size aircraft and one of the more entertaining shows ever. I think 1993 was the last year in Ida Grove before it moved to Ankeny, IA and was quickly mismanaged into the ground. The second link was about all that was left after the show disappeared and I think the carrier is now gone as well.

[Mark Allen M]

I think many years ago I read about the Byron airshows and always wanted to ge check one out. As can be seen in the first video there seems to be quite a large crowd and the need for bleachers so the shows must have been very popular. Amazing the size and amount of detail some of those folks put into their RC planes. That B-29 is simply amazing. I would venture a guess that B-29 cost a bundle to make and I wonder if it's still around today. Bruce did you ever attend a show? What was the intent of the carrier? Would these very large RC planes actually try to land on that carrier? Hmmm! that would be quite something to see.

I'm not a huge RC guy, I respect the guys who are deep into it and I love the attention to detail and great attention to what looks like authentic paint schemes when not moving, but the smaller RC planes simply fly too fast and eratic for me to be entertained with anything looking remotely real. I do like the larger RC planes like the B-29 above that much better come close to looking real in the air. It's just hard to enjoy a B-17 flying as fast as a jet

Take a look at the video when the B-29 is on takeoff roll. That to me looks about as real to an actual full size B-29 as it gets for RC. Without the guy standing there and just seeing the C47 and B-29 I would think it was the real deal.

Also looks like the B-29 has real convincing props doesn't it? Why is it that most RC planes have those non-authentic type props? Are those needed for flight control?

[ebramhall]

A lot of the Byron models survive today at the Iowa Aviation Heritage Museum in Ankeny.

http://iowaaviationheritagemuseum.webs.com/

Here's few photos I took last year of the Byron planes, trains, tanks and boats. Neat stuff!

-Eric

[wendovertom]

Wow - that is quite a RC!! And those carriers are HUGE!

Tom P.

[Garth]

Please note that the Enola Gay model is *quite* inaccurate, as the Silverplate B-29s had all four sets of turrets left off.

[brucev]

I think many years ago I read about the Byron airshows and always wanted to ge check one out. As can be seen in the first video there seems to be quite a large crowd and the need for bleachers so the shows must have been very popular. Amazing the size and amount of detail some of those folks put into their RC planes. That B-29 is simply amazing. I would venture a guess that B-29 cost a bundle to make and I wonder if it's still around today. Bruce did you ever attend a show? What was the intent of the carrier? Would these very large RC planes actually try to land on that carrier? Hmmm! that would be quite something to see.

I'm not a huge RC guy, I respect the guys who are deep into it and I love the attention to detail and great attention to what looks like authentic paint schemes when not moving, but the smaller RC planes simply fly too fast and eratic for me to be entertained with anything looking remotely real. I do like the larger RC planes like the B-29 above that much better come close to looking real in the air. It's just hard to enjoy a B-17 flying as fast as a jet

Take a look at the video when the B-29 is on takeoff roll. That to me looks about as real to an actual full size B-29 as it gets for RC. Without the guy standing there and just seeing the C47 and B-29 I would think it was the real deal.

Also looks like the B-29 has real convincing props doesn't it? Why is it that most RC planes have those non-authentic type props? Are those needed for flight control?

I did attend several of the shows in Ida Grove sadly it was a victim of it's own success, the crowds grew rapidly as the shows added more and more visual effects and these large crowds quickly overwhelmed the logistics of Ida Grove which was and is a small town. A fatal accident by one of the Tora team aircraft may have expedited the move to Ankeny but it was mainly due to space constraints. Once in Ankeny the show quickly died off.

The carriers were for visual effect only, a dozen or so aircraft were placed on the deck as props but I don't think any were actually flown off the deck although the carriers did move in and out of crowd view as the show went on.

The entire show was a weekend long affair, activities started with r/c aircraft of various classes in e morning and into early afternoon, then a full size airshow and the day culminated with the Byron Orginals Striking Back show which was a condensed version of the Pacific war with R/C vehicles, tanks, ships and aircraft, some of which were rigged to explode in flight while others were shot down by a real flak gun (yes really) mid air collisions galore.... Most of the aircraft in the striking back show were quite large as evidenced by the museum pics.

It was one of the more entertaining aviation events I've ever experienced, unfortunately it iis gone forever.

[C VEICH]

Why is it that most RC planes have those non-authentic type props? Are those needed for flight control?

Basically because the small two and four cycle engines that are most often used on r/c model aircraft are direct drive, operate at much higher rpm's than the full size, and do not generate near the torque. The loss in performance when you start adding blades to these powerplants is usually substantial. In order to keep them running within their ideal rpm range the diameter on the multi bladed props also get rediculously small. There have been a few gear boxes and geared engines produced over the years for r/c applications but for whatever reason none of them ever really took off. Byron most certainly had the most popular set up with their "Byro Drive" system which used a belt drive combined with various 35-42cc single cylinder two stroke engines. They provided that system to be used with all of their single engine fighters which inluded a Mustang, Thunderbolt, Corsair, Hellcat, and Zero as I recall. Performance with the prop drive was adequate but not spectacular by any means, mainly due to prop limitations IIRC. Some of the large multi-cylinder engines available these days, and particularly the big radials, do a pretty good job of swinging near scale 3 and 4 bladers but the biggest strides in the application of scale props for models has come (and is coming) with advances in electric power.

[Dwhart24]

Here are some recent photos that I took at a big RC event in Lakeland FL. These events actually take place at the same airport Sun n Fun is held at. This is Mac Hodges 22'-0 wingspan B-29 from Georgia. He has an X-1 rocket strapped beneath the wing. He releases it and another gentleman with a controller (transmitter) glides the X-1 down to about 3' off the ground and ignites a rocket and it shoots a few hundred feet up. Pretty cool stuff. If you live in Florida, I highly recommend you try to see these shows in Lakeland. They are all 3-4 day events with some amazing models.


DSC_6233 by dwhart24, on Flickr

DSC_6237 by dwhart24, on Flickr

DSC_6241 by dwhart24, on Flickr

DSC_6249 by dwhart24, on Flickr

DSC_0800 by dwhart24, on Flickr