EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018: B-1/17th Arrives At OSH

The shape and configuration was perfectly pulled off. There's not a moment's hesitation in knowing precisely what you're looking at.

Coolest thing we've seen by Monday? This Boeing B-17 scale replica, a B-1/17^th, if you will. Nicknamed the Bally Bomber, this one-off custom built homebuilt is powered by four Hirth two-cylinder engines of 45-hp apiece and actually has retractable landing gear. The plane was completed by Jack Bally of Dixon, Illinois, in 2016 and was flown to OSH by Richard Kosi. With a span of better than 34-feet, the little B- is no tiny plane, but it is beautifully detailed, with retractable landing gear and a belly turret. With a max weight of 2,000 pounds, the homebuilt Faux-ing is no speed demon, with a max cruise speed of just 95 knots and a munitions payload of zilch. But the fun factor of this baby has got to be off the charts. And we wonder if at a distance, it looks like the real McCoy, just a lot closer than you might think it is.

View more photos of the scale replica bomber by clicking the button below.

The roof of this one turns into the canopy to serve also as the means of entry.

The B-1/17th is powered by four two-cylinder Hirth engines of 45-hp apiece. They are probably as reliable or even more so than the double-rowed original 9-cylinder 1200-hp Wright Cyclone radials.