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Build Your Own Model B-52

Posted by michael on from the needs-nose-art dept.

Assmasher writes "Who says the cold war is over? Wren Turbines, a UK based manufacturer of scale modeling jet engines (usually for remote control aircraft), has provided the engines for a 300lbs+ scale replica of Boeing's B-52. This isn't normal Slashdot fare; however, it is nerdy enough, crazy enough, and if you watch the videos, cool enough to warrant serious geek attention. At roughly $3k per turbine, this is a serious piece of engineering. The sound alone is amazing!"

16 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. The B52 is just wierd by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you look at it you can see it ha a bycicle undercarriage (forward and back wheel sets instead of nosewheel+main gear). It also has wings with an unusually high attack angle with respect to the main fuse.

    This leads to some crazy descent angle where the arcraft seems to be flying directly AT THE GROUND until it flares at the last second to place the wheel sets parallel to the runway to touchdown.

    It's perfectly safe but damn, that's a wierd feeling when you are riding in one.

    --
    Beep beep.
    1. Re:The B52 is just wierd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Another thing that's weird about the B-52 is the way it deals with the crosswind. It doesn't use flaps to stay parallel with the runway. It turns into the wind and rotates the wheels to be parallel with the runway. It's just a massive plane.

    2. Re:The B52 is just wierd by hkb · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It also has wings with an unusually high attack angle with respect to the main fuse.

      This was a later model modification to help the B-52's stability with low level flight at its new role as a low-altitude bomber. Formerly, the B-52 was a high altitude bomber and had a much less steep attack angle.

      You should see the B-52 crab control at work. You haven't lived until you've seen a B-52 land in a blizzard with its nose pointed well to the right of the runway, even though it's still going down the runway's path.

      I saw one almost spin out of control on landing once, too. That is a freaky sight.

      Any other former bomb/nav in the house?

      --
      /* Moderating all non-anonymous trolls up since 2004 */
    3. Re:The B52 is just wierd by Secrity · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Ever had a taxying B-52 appear out of nowhere right behind your Step Van? Was the modification that you speak of the one that stiffened the wings? Back in my day, a fully fueled and loaded B-52 whould have it's outrigger wheels touching the ground; the wingtips would be just a couple feet off the ground. An empty B-52's wingtips would WAY off the ground (over 10 feet). Watching a B-52 take off was wierd too, it took off nose down.

    4. Re:The B52 is just wierd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not I, but my father was a B52 pilot and wing commander of a bombardment wing in the late 70s.

      I grew up on bomber air force bases and became an aeronautical engineer. I've seen lots of cross wind B52 landings and it always looks odd. The takeoffs are strange too since you dont see the lift coming until the plane just gets pulled into the air as the low pressure sucks it upwards. That is hard to explain to most people.

      Dad got me up one morning at 4:30 and we drove in the staff car onto the flightline to watch a plane takeoff that wasn't supposed to be on our base. He sais, "this is important, I can't tell you anything more." About 24 hours later the attempted Iranian hostage rescue failed. I'd never put that together before. Dad died in 1991. I still wear his B-58 Hustler tie tack. Now that was a PLANE!
      http://www.mindspring.com/~mach22/inflight .htm

    5. Re:The B52 is just wierd by Salgak1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Former EW here. And of course, some of the insane ways they have to land it. I was pulling "foxtrot" duty one day (Supervisor of Flying: effectively, you OWN the airfield) with some heavy crosswinds, 45 knots or so. . . We had a plane come in about 100 YARDS to the one side of the runway when it broke the cloud deck, about 400 feet off the ground. Needless to say, I called the abort, and had him go around for another landing. . . . Incidentally, looking at the tail number of the B-52 model. . . I realise that I've had 100+ hours in the bird that Wren build a model of. . .

  2. Intresting... by autopr0n · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, if these things can lift a 300lb model of a b52, why can't a couple more carry a 1000+ pound personal aircraft. You could probably have a fully functional (but probably extreemly dangerous) delta-wing aircraft for the price of a luxury car.

    I can even see "jetbelt" type devices being made out of such a thing, which would be sweet.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  3. Expensive Hobbies by MikeDawg · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Damn, expensive hobbies can be scary. Just imagine the price of running that thing. How would you feel if you crashed and burned that poor B-52? I bet they have their best damn RC pilot at the helm when they fly that beast.

    I wish they had a video of the landing, I'd like to see that.

    --

    YOU'RE WINNER !
    Another lame blog

  4. Well... by ptomblin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Somebody already made a Cri-Cri (world's smallest plane) powered by two of these engines/a.. It scares the hell out me just thinking of it.

    I'll stick with my PA32R-300, thanks.

    --
    The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
  5. Re:We'll meet again... by scrotch · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There's another pic here with people:
    http://www.wren-turbines.com/B52003WEB.jpg
    you can get a better (bigger) estimate of its size from this one.

  6. They'd need to... by Goonie · · Score: 4, Interesting
    While I haven't seen the specs on this model, if they're anything like most minijets they'll chew fuel at an astounding rate of knots. While I can't find the stats for the Wren, the smallest model made by this company uses 250 grams (9 ounces) of fuel per minute at full throttle. Even assuming the Wren uses half the fuel, with 8 engines that's 1kg of fuel per minute. That's 1.6 *litres* of fuel per minute, or, if you like, about 140 seconds of flying time for every US gallon of fuel, if I've done my sums right.

    This is why small GA aircraft use propellers, by the way.

    --

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
    --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
  7. Space Cowboys? by tsadi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    what's Donald Sutherland doing there? (leftmost guy)

  8. Re: Damn bugs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    So, if a fly, or bee gets sucked into the intakes, would that be enough to bring it down?

  9. It's slashdot material? by kruczkowski · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hmm - stores like this is the only reason I go to slashdot - not for the RIAA and MS bashing.

    --
    hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5
  10. Re:Just $3k per turbine? by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Latest stealth technologies. Reverse doppler so viewers don't know if it's coming or going. Apparent tiny size so it is dismissed as not a bomber. Details made visible worldwide through Slashdot so everyone thinks the weapon system does not really exist. The smallest miniature cowboys to fly the thing.

    Seriously, the sound might be different due to listening to the inside of the engine or the side of it. Or listening to the intake is low pitched, but the exhaust may be high pitched due to the smaller turbines being in the rear..so as it approaches you hear more of the high pitch which is coming from behind. Or the microphones are just overloaded and we have no idea what it sounds like. Or these tiny engines don't produce the same sound as those that can eat a car, and you're expecting a similarity.

  11. This looks oddly familiar... by lga · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I used to work in a rapid prototyping center at Evesham College and in 96 - 97 we helped a guy build prototypes for miniature turbines. I used a Stratasys FDM machine to produce the first plastic models of these turbines and then in wax to cast the first prototypes. When I looked at the wren turbines website just now those turbine wheels look extremely like what we produced...
    Unfortunately I can't remember the designers name (and it was just one guy doing this as a hobby) and I haven't been in contact since 1997.

    Those were fun days though. I remember one day the guy brought in a turbine from a full size helicopter that he had got from somewhere (I never asked!) and we fired it up in a warehouse with four of use holding it down, just for fun! The miniture turbine was cool stuff though, we had to start it by firing propane through the front to spin it, and watch it flame when it was lit. Then the normal fuel was pumped in to make it go. I used to raise the temperature of the place by several degrees in about 2 minutes.

    Happy days...

    --
    A latent existence