Bally’s Bomber – A 1/3rd Replica Of A B-17G

bally bomber

One of our tipsters just sent us this fascinating story about The Bally Bomber, a single man’s huge undertaking that started back in 1999. It’s a 1/3rd scale version of the B-17G Bomber — and no, it’s not remote controlled, there will be a pilot.

Not familiar with the B-17G? What about its trade name? It’s called the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. This massive bomber was developed back in the 1930’s for the United States Army Air Corps as a combination between the Boeing 247 transport plane and the experimental Boeing XB-15 Bomber.

8680 of the B-17G model were built, but as of September 2011, only 13 of the entire B-17 family remain airworthy. The Bally Bomber is the only known scale replica, and looking through the progress photos it is an absolutely jaw-dropping project. It hasn’t been test flown yet, but they are getting painfully close to its maiden flight.

For more information, you can also check out their Facebook page which seems to be updated on a regular basis.

[Thanks Ryan!]

19 thoughts on “Bally’s Bomber – A 1/3rd Replica Of A B-17G

  1. Back in 2002 I got to go inside a real Flying Fortress. At the time, it was the only one flying, with the name “Fifi” on the side. The really amazing part is that the crew were all veterans from WWII that had flown in them during the war. Their stories raised the hair on the back of my neck.

  2. Holy crap this is amazing! I’d love to see a full flight of these make a run on an air show and drop water balloons.

    I got to tour a B-17 in Texas a while back. I remember talking to one of the crew members and saying it wasn’t a big mans job. He laughed and said only if your a gunner, the pilots had to be pretty big fellas to work the controls. They were still cable controlled back then, no hydraulics.

  3. This kind of project really makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with me in the ambition department. I am much more hands on and DIY than most but this shows how many standard deviations back on the bell curve I am (not adjusting for the fact that he may be just rich as hell). Damn, just top notch.

    1. My stomach turned too after the third picture I viewed and the awe started sinking in. The next time I complain I don’t have enough time to do all of the projects I want to do, I will think of this project and know there is time if you look for it.

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