April Featured Artist: Bob Allen

Fun4Change is proud to present our next featured artist, Bob Allen. For many years now, Bob has been plugging away at a scale 140″ wingspan radio-controlled C-47 with a completely fleshed-out interior, something you would normally only expect to see on a static model.

Featured Artist Bob Allen 1.jpg

Interviewer: Congratulations on becoming the Fun4Change April Featured Artist. You’re helping us to set the bar for the standard of craftsmanship and contribution to the hobby that we want to promote through this part of the page. Let’s get started:

What got you into this hobby, and how long have you been at it?

My dad was a test pilot in the U.S. Air Force and we talked planes a lot. I started building plastic models. Then we got a plane and learned with his help. I started with u-control planes when I was about 10 years old.

What planes did your dad test in the air force?

The two planes he talked about were the P-51 and B-17. I do know that the only plane he ever lost was a B-17. He was on takeoff and just lifted off and lost an engine. They tried to make it back to land but were unsuccessful and had to crash-land. To my knowledge no one was hurt. I have seen the identification label from that plane.

What have you been flying in the meantime while you work on the C-47?

I have built and flown gliders. I found that I was unable to fly powered airplanes very well. Gliders gave me the time to react to the plane because turns would confuse me sometimes. I would fly with my sons and if I got it in too much trouble, I would let them bring it back to me.

Do you enjoy music while you craft, or any other kind of background ambiance, or do you prefer silence?

I like having the TV on for noise. I worked in the garage and needed the TV to break the silence. I would leave the garage door open during the warmer months and the neighbors would come by to say hi and check progress.

What compelled you to undertake such a massive endeavor?

One day my friend George showed up at work and said “I bought you an airplane.” I said, “Great, what is it?” “It’s a C-47.” A day or two later he showed up with this box. I said, “I have never built anything this big.” He said, “Neither have I, so we will learn together.” Soon after that I moved to Idaho and he was in California. Starting out with plans, and a big box of sticks I started constructing the fuselage. First thing I learned was a crutch. Through the years I did what I knew and talked to my friend daily by phone not only about planes but to continue our friendship.

You have made multiple news appearances, attracted a massive amount of love across social media, and are receiving awards for your accomplishments. Did you think that you would achieve this level of attention when you started this project?

I started my plane hoping I could just make a good-looking C-47. The more I worked on it the better it started looking. People started liking my C-47 but I thought it was because of its size, it is big. One day a neighbor down the street contacted their son Don Nelson who is an anchor on a TV station in Boise Idaho. Don Nelson passed the information to Roland Beres who is an anchor on a TV station in Boise, Idaho and that was the first TV segment. I see these beautiful shiny airplanes in magazines these guys make and I don’t think my C-47 compares at all. I tried to make it as close to the original plane as possible. I like what I did and I take pride in it, but I am surprised it has gotten all the attention it has.

I think you’re being modest. Your work does more than hold a candle up to the shiny planes you see in the magazines… it belongs right there with them! The scale interior is clear validation of that. In regards to the interior, at what point did you decide to flesh that out?

In the beginning while working on the fuselage. I had to do it before I put the fiberglass nose on the fuselage. Sliding the nose cone off and on to test fit is when I noticed that I had to do it at that time.

What was your greatest challenge with this project? What would you say was the most tedious, or frustrating aspect?

Balancing my plane nose-to-tail. In building the fuselage, I wanted to have all the doors open. If I open the main doors, the plans wanted the servos up with CG, and to run long push rods the length of the fuselage. I wanted an open fuselage and the push rods would show. I made cargo boxes to hold my fuel tanks and put them over the cg, but that didn’t help. I underestimated the weight needed in the nose. I will balance this summer. I also hid all the linkage to the tail control surfaces. That took a while but nothing shows.

What motivated you to see the project through when it got tedious?

After a while it would become hard to work on, so I would pause for a time. Work on another plane, think what I needed to do next. Just take some time off. Get interested in working on the C-47 again and start working. Just kept on starting again and again. As I worked, I wanted to finish it and do the best I could.

Aspiring hobbyists often wish they could achieve the level of detail that you put into your work. Do you have any advice for those just starting out, or for those who are struggling with their projects?

When you start construction, start thinking of what you would like in or about your finished plane. If you wait too late in your build you may not be able to add to your almost or completed plane. In my case I decided to make my plane as original as possible. I got on the internet and found all I could about the original plane and others like it. Found the stuff I wanted to put on or in my plane and tried to come up with a way to make it. When I finished, I wanted to put a light in the cockpit. I was lucky enough to fit my hand through the pilot’s door to add the light. That was the last change I could make.

Do you have any plans to implement a camera system in the cockpit or cabin?

No, not now. At the time I was building, cameras cost too much and didn’t want to put one in. Now I am all closed in and the last thing I could put in was the light in the cockpit, and I don’t want to change the look of my C-47.

What kind of finish did you put on the plane?

I didn’t want to do a puff or olive drab with invasion stripes. I looked at a lot of different schemes and found this one and hopped I could do it. I hunted the internet to find to find the colors of the plane I wanted to build. Then I found the paint manual that gave the federal standard paint colors, the letter type and size, the size of the stars and bars and placement. Went to Home Depot paint department and gave them the numbers for the federal standard colors. They were able to mix all the federal standard colors except olive drab. I thinned the paint with windshield fluid and used an old Weber paint sprayer for large areas and a $5.00 hand air sprayer from Home Depot for touch up.

Do you have a pilot selected for the maiden?

No, not yet. I have a flying field with members I can talk to when ready. I might be able to ask my son to try some taxi tests and maybe a Spruce Goose flight on the 3rd fairway in back of our house.

Can you elaborate a bit on the oil cooler? It sounds amazing; this is a functioning oil cooler, or is it a scale oil cooler only for display?

The oil cooler is not functional. I wanted to make it look as real as possible. I went to an auto repair shop and asked if they had any old heater cores they would throw out. They called me a couple of days later and gave me one. I cut about a 1/4″ thick off the core and made it round. I painted it black to make it look real.

Do the wings detach for transport?

Yes. The wing is in three sections. A left, a right, and a center section. I leave the center section bolted to the fuselage to help move the C-47 around the garage. There’s two aluminum tubes for each wing that slide into the center wing. The wing span will be 140″ which I tell everyone it is 12′ so they don’t have to try to figure out how long the span is. I built the center wing first with no skin on the center. I added the tubes, and built the wings to match the center section. Tested sliding the wings several days on and off to make sure the tubes stayed put, and I did the final gluing. My wings are tight now but at the time of construction I wasn’t sure they would stay in flight, so I drilled and tapped a hole in the wheel well through the large pipe to keep the wings in place if needed.

Anything else that you would like to add?

The one thing I am really pleased about are the pilot, copilot seats and the stretchers. I found a badminton racket that my father-in-law had back in the late 1930’s early 1940’s with an olive drab cover on it. I used it to cover the pilot, copilot seats and the stretchers. That makes them as old as an original C-47.

End of interview.

We’re making an effort to recover a previous news appearance Mr. Allen made that is currently unavailable. In the event we’re unable to, he will be featured in a follow-up interview with the same station in the future, which you’ll be able to find a link to here when it’s available.

In the meantime, you can see Bob’s gallery here, and if you’re itching for the specs on this spectacular bird, you’ll find them here.