C97 and KC97L 1/72

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog thus far. Here is my second post. please comment.

I recently built a C97 military cargo plane and decided to put both it and it's aerial tanker into the same post. Like most of my models, these two are 1/72 scale and built by Academy. These two are easy to build, well easier than the KB29, and I would recommend them for anyone who is rather new to models, but wants to build big because it is easier to fix mistakes on a large aircraft. I also put on some unused parts on the C97. Bellow the wings you can see two external fuel tanks. These were not in the instructions to add, but I did because it makes the plane look cool.

I built the KC97L because I was drawn to the look. The aircraft is based off of the B29 which is a personal favorite aircraft for me. I bought the KC97L first because it had a long service life due to the addition of jet engines. The aircraft served well into Vietnam. I built the C97 because I wanted to test out spray paint made specifically for models. Before I either painted the plane with a brush or used other sprays from Wal-Mart . I say that it does look much better than the KC97L, the finish is amazing.

C97 Specs 
Crew: 4 (Pilot, Copilot, Navigator, Flight engineer) 
Capacity:96 troops or
69 stretchers or

• • tanker equipment
• Length: 110 ft 4 in (33.7 m)
• Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43.1 m)
• Height: 38 ft 3 in (11.7 m)
• Wing area: 1,734 ft² (161.1 m²)
• Empty weight: 82,500 lb (37,410 kg)
• Loaded weight: 120,000 lb (54,420 kg)
• Useful load: 37,500 lb (17,010 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 175,000 lb (79,370 kg)
• Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360B Wasp Major radial engines, 3,500 hp (2,610 kW) 28-cylinders each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 375 mph (603 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 260 knots (300 mph, 482 km/h)
• Range: 4,949 nm (4,300 mi, 6,920 km)
• Ferry range: 5,000 nm (5,760 mi, 9,270 km)
• Service ceiling: 35,000 ft (10,670 m)
• Wing loading: 69.2 lb/ft² (337.8 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.117 hp/lb (192 W/kg)

specs for a KC97L

• Crew: five (two pilots, navigator, flight engineer, boom operator)
• Capacity: 9,000 gal (34,000 L) of jet fuel
• Length: 117 ft 5 in (m)
• Wingspan: 141 ft 2 in (m)
• Height: 38 ft 4 in (m)
• Wing area: ft² (m²)
• Empty weight: 82,500 lb (kg)
• Loaded weight: 153,000 lb (kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 175,000 lb (kg)
• Powerplant:
  • 2 × General Electric J47-GE-23 turbojets, 5,790 lbf (kN) each
  • 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360-59 radial engines, 3,500 hp (kW) each
   Performance
  
  • Maximum speed: 400 mph (km/h)
  • Cruise speed: 230 mph (km/h)
  • Range: 2,300 mi (km)
  • Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (m)
  • Rate of climb: ft/min (m/s)
  • Wing loading: lb/ft² (kg/m²)
  • Power/mass (prop): hp/lb (kW/kg)
  
  
  

 I think the USAF should redesign this plane to have jets only then bring it back into service. The plane peculiar shape makes it a good transport and tanker. I think it would make a better remastered tanker than transport. This planes shape makes it possible to have fuel on the bottom and the top levels of the plane. That's a lot of fuel. I would recommend this aircraft be used by coast guard units and not over combat zones as it's shape would also make it slow.

KB-29P 1/72

This is my first post, please comment on things you think I left out, or things you feel I should include.

This is one of my better models, a Boeing KB-29P tanker. The aircraft is in 1/72 scale like many of my other models. I try to keep the scale consistent so I an compare the size of each aircraft. This plane was rather complicated to build. Though the instructions are easy to read, that is not the reason it was hard to build. This aircraft has a forward command section plus an aft gunner/observational area. Or in this case, where the guy who operates the flying boom is located. These two sections were easy to get built and connected to one another, but the hard part was putting them inside the plane and getting the two parts of the fuselage to stay together. Even after nearly an hour of holding the two pieces together, it appeared as though it were separating. I had elastic bands around the plane, but I added another and squeezed as hard as I could. The rest of the plane was easy to put together, so no complaints there. This model was produced by Academy, a personal favorite manufacturer because they pay very close attention to detail (You can't see into that rear section, but it's still there).

I built this plane because I have always liked the look, sound, and importance that the B29 played both during and after World War II. It is one of my favorite fixed wing aircraft and has been adapted into many roles.

The KB-29P was used after World War II as an air-to-air refueler and was one of the first aircraft with the "flying" boom. this boom made refueling much easier than the old way of refueling which had both the tanker and the receiving plane itself have special modifications for refueling with a complex system that relied much on chance.
Specs of a standard KB-29P

• Length: 120 ft 1 in (36.60 m)
• Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43.05 m)
• Height: 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m)
• Wing area: 1,736 sq ft (161.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 69,011 lb (31,303 kg)
• Gross weight: 138,500 lb (62,823 kg)
• Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3350 radial engines, 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) each
• Maximum speed: 400 mph (640 km/h; 350 kn) at 30,000 ft (9,150 m)
• Cruise speed: 315 mph (274 kn; 507 km/h)
• Range: 2,300 mi (1,999 nmi; 3,701 km)
• Service ceiling: 38,000 ft (11,582 m)
• Rate of climb: 500 ft/min (2.5 m/s)

The aircraft performed well in it's duties but was retired soon afterwords because the plane just couldn't keep up with the new jets of the 50's. Eventually, jet engines were attached to the aircraft to speed it up enough to refuel Jets, but the plane was out of date and it's service life was over.

I think this plane served the united States well because it was able to do it's job up until it was out date, which is all anyone can really ask of any aircraft. I would not bring this plane back to life because it is even more out date today than it was when those jets first started appearing. If Boeing did begin producing the aircraft again, it would best serve as either a weather aircraft or an airshow attraction.

Welcome

Hello and Welcome to my blog.

In this blog I will be posting pictures of Model aircraft I am/have built along with pictures of it from real life. I will tell what it was like building the plane, what company produced the model and why I built it(provided I have an answer to that). I will also provide specs about the actual plane and how/when it was used. I will also state whether or not the plane was good in it's duties or not. Finally, I will state if the plane should be brought back to life(if the plane is retired) or if the plane should be put down (if it should be retired).

thank you and please enjoy. I hope to have my first actual post up soon