Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser

Model Airplane News, Nov 2004 by Yarrish, Gerry

Giant cruiser of the skies

When Carl Bachhuber of Mayville, WI, sets out to build a big model, he doesn't fool around! To him, bigger really is better-and the more engines the better, as well! When I arrived at the 2004 IMAA "Warbirds over Delaware" meet this past July, I thought I was seeing things and said to myself, "Surely that can't be what I think it is"but it was. Sitting in the middle of the pit , area was a big, beautiful, very shiny Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser! With its 180-inch wingspan, it made most of the other models at this giant-scale meet look small.

First flown on May 6, 2004, at the Fond du Lac (WI) flying club field, Carl's Stratocruiser took seven months to complete, and that includes the time it took to produce the working drawings using ModelCAD software. Carl used very traditional methods to produce the mammoth airliner, and it includes balsa, plywood and lite-ply formers, stringers and ribs. The entire model is sheeted with balsa and finished with 0.7-ounce fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin. Carl made the striking aluminum finish out of self-adhesive, polyester Mylar tape sheets used in the magnetictape recording industry. The various panels were then scuffed with Scotch-Brite pads to produce a scale finish.

To make it easier to transport, Carl wisely included plug-in wing panels with large carry-through tubes at both the front and rear spars. The tubes run out to the inboard engine nacelles and provide the necessary strength to withstand landing forces taken up by the nacelle-mounted gear. The custom retracts are homegrown, and Carl used Robart air cylinders to actuate the impressive-looking struts.

Carl uses a Futaba 9CAP radio system to control a total of 14 servos. These include four to drive the Fowler-style flaps, four for throttle, one for each elevator half, rudder, nose-gear steering, brakes and the retracts' pneumatic control valve. Access to the various radio switches and air-charging valves is through the scale crew entry door. Inside the flight deck are the pilot and copilot figures and a nicely detailed main office.

Carl reports that his first flight took off in about 100 to 150 feet after a very short taxi test and required only two clicks of downtrim. By the time the model had reached the halfway point of the first lap, it flew hands off! The Stratocruiser handles very well at low- and high-throttle settings, but Carl admits that he needs more landing experience. The gear has held up surprisingly well, but after seeing Carl-who has more than 40 years of RC experience-fly and land his Model 377, I know he's only being modest about his piloting skills!

The original aircraft was a Northwest Airlines plane that was in service during the late 1940s through about 1955. The aircraft owes much of its design to the Boeing B-29 and the later B-SO variant of the Superfortress. The design was also used as a military cargo aircraft (C-97) and as an airborne tanker (KC-97). In the late 1950s, the Model 377 was replaced by the Boeing 707.

For more information and photos of Carl's Stratocruiser (as well as his many other gigantic model aircraft), check out his website at carlb-rcplanes.com. He also welcomes email and can be reached at carlb@mayvl.com.