One-Third Scale Replica Of A B-17 Takes To The Air

We don't yet have a lot of details, but homebuilder Jack Bally reportedly flew his Bally Bomber for the first time on Monday, November 14.

The flight was reported on the EAA Homebuilder's Facebook page. "On Monday, Nov 14, 2016, Jack Bally`s scale replica B-17 took to the air for the first time, completing a short flight from its home field to a local airport for continued flight tests. It has been a 17-year journey for Jack. We hope to see videos and photos posted soon. Congratulations Jack!"

Bally, a resident of Dixon, IL, has been working towards that day for 17 years. The FAA certified the airplane for flight testing in late October.

The Bally Bomber was built by scaling up plans for a 1/9-scale RC model. But this is no RC aircraft. It is flown by a person sitting inside the aircraft.

The Bally Bomber has a wingspan of 34' 7" and is powered by four Hirth 3002 two-stroke engines. Her empty weight is 1,800 pounds.

Bally posted on his Facebook page that the pilot of the Bally Bomber is Darrell Mattson (pictured). He served in the U.S. Navy from 1963 to 1967, and was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Hancock, as a member of its crash and rescue team.

Mattson learned to fly in 1977, at the Whiteside County Airport, and became a flight instructor in 1979. His licenses include pilot, commercial, airplane single-engine land, airplane single-engine sea, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane. As a flight instructor, he holds licenses including flight instructor-airplane single and multiengine, and instrument airplane. Mattson has more than 7,300 hours of flight time, including 250 hours multiengine land and 726 hours in tail draggers.

(Images from Facebook and file photos)

FMI: www.theballybomber.com