Bally B-17


The Bally Bomber B-17 is a single-seat homebuilt aircraft, intended as a one-third scale replica of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The Bally Bomber made its debut during the 2018 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

Design and development

The Bally Bomber B-17 is an original design by Jack Bally, EAA 348338. The aircraft is a four-engined, retractable conventional landing gear equipped, low wing monoplane. The fuselage is all riveted aluminum in construction with hexagonal bulkheads. The drawings were modified from a one ninth scale set of radio-controlled aircraft plans. Despite being a scale replica, the aircraft is relatively large for a homebuilt aircraft due to its wingspan. Most homebuilt aircraft are single engine designs with a few twin engine models produced, making the Bally Bomber's four-engined homebuilt a rarity.
The Bally Bomber took Bally 17 years and an estimated 40,000 man-hours to build.

Operational history

The Bally Bomber officially debuted at the 2018 EAA AirVenture Convention held annually in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The aircraft's test pilot was Richard Kosi, EAA 666459, who also acted as an EAA technical counselor on the build. A prior unintentional flight occurred in 2016, when an unexpected gust resulted in a takeoff during a taxi test. Later in 2018, the aircraft was put up for sale by Bally. Larry Neu, EAA 104067, bought the Bally Bomber and returned to AirVenture in 2021 piloting the aircraft.

Specifications (Bally B-17)