Members Profile - Bill Fili
RESURRECTION
by Bill Fili
Following under the wings of the Mystical bird PHOENIX - - who rose from the dead in the ashes of the fiery depths of hell - - I gave myself the awesome task of resurrecting my bomber that was shot down due to enemy attacks in those fiery skies of Europe in the early 1940’s. My bomber’s name was Destiny Deb.
Hello: My name is Bill Fili and I was one of the flight engineers and aerial gunners on the B-24 Liberator Bomber DESTINY DEB. The fateful day was August 24, 1944 on our second bombing mission to destroy the oil refineries at Ploiesti, Romania to deny the German paperhanger Adolph Hitler of his needed petroleum products so he could continue his conquest of the Human Race. After thirty-four missions over Europe in some of the most awesome air battles that could ever be imagined, four miles high in the skies, fate had apparently decided that enough is enough for Destiny Deb and her crew. But fate was very kind to us in that all ten men escaped the destruction of the bomber - - unlike other bombers that were destroyed over Europe, with the survival rate being only three out of ten being allowed to come home at the war’s end. Needless to say, Destiny Deb never left my mind.
Fast forwarding through sixty-four years of struggling through life, I finally decided enough is enough and sat down to resurrect Destiny Deb. Just maybe to bring her to immortality. But more importantly, to be a memorial for all the seventy-nine thousand plus men who gave their lives over the European skies in the quest for Universal Freedom and life without wars. Equally important is a thank you for all the teenage airmen who braved flying above the realm of the birds, nearer to the heavens and out of the reach of the ever-loving bosom of Mother Earth.
December 17, 2007, my eighty-fourth birthday, is as good as any starting point in my waning years. Since I have never built any large type of models - - I had no idea of where to begin - - I have never flown anything but real airplanes - - I had no conception of what would be required of me to see this project through to its completion. The only models that I ever made were plastic ones, mostly, one forty-eight scale. Now, I am embarking on building a radio-controlled giant B-24 Liberator with a twelve-foot wingspan, retractable landing gear and what other amenities required of such an undertaking. Well… Let’s get started.
The next day, I went to the local hobby shop, purchased a radio-controlled magazine, sat down to some learning. If I can become a member of the UFO club - - the UNITED FLYING OCTOGENARIANS for licensed pilots over eighty years young.
- - I can build this Liberator. The first thing I needed was a set of plans, and I found a designer and ordered them shipped express. Next thing was to find someone to laser cut some of the parts, found one and placed the order. Being new to this type of hobby, boy, was I naive. I expected the plans made by an engineer and a laser cutter to do accurate work, that parts to be cut from plywood would be plywood and not balsa wood, that they would fit together. WOW, what a lesson I learned, never take anything for granted. So let’s build a radio-controlled B-24 Liberator named Destiny Deb.
After setting up the planning board, I laid out the laser cut fuselage ribs and started to make the necessary modifications to fit properly. Actual construction started on January 10, 2008. At first, it was quite exasperating getting to all the ribs and stringers to work together with so much sanding and cutting I told myself that I asked for this and then settled down to do a good job, since the purpose of this project was truly a worthy one. Then things got easier by the day.
By February 20, 2008, I managed to complete the fuselage framing with all ribs lined up and glued, set it aside and started on the wings. By this time, I had received the retract gears and set up a test stand. Setting the fuselage on another building board with leveling and alignment strings for accuracy.
Bill Fili and the Liberator
March 15, 2008 was the starting date for the wings to come on the scene. The wing ribs presented a problem that was quite new to me in that the thirty-inch outer wing panel was attached with a metal tube. But the engineer and laser cutter did not indicate or cut the proper holes in the ribs for the tube and proper allowance, for the retracts were in the wrong place. All of these very important items were alleviated only because of my former aviation experience in the Army Air Corps.
By June 15, 2008, both wings were completed, except the skin. Mating both wings together took another few weeks trial and error to make sure of the proper dihedral.
During the time of constructing Destiny Deb, I also was taking instructions on how to fly radio-controlled airplanes - - another lesson learned - - it is not easy to teach an old Airedale new tricks. I know how to cope with cross winds, high winds in a real airplane, but to control a small airplane when not in the cockpit is something else. When that very small radio-controlled training plane is up in the air and at the far end of the runway, it is difficult to see right from left to make the proper turns. But like everything else in my life, I will succeed in learning to fly a radio-controlled airplane. I might add that I have no intentions of flying my Liberator the first time when that time comes.
August 15, 2008. After eight months of construction, I displayed Debbie at the EAA 240 hanger at New Garden Airport in Toughkenamon, PA, a day before one of our pancake breakfast fly-ins. January 15, 2009, just about one year later, Destiny Deb is finally taking shape with the addition of some monocot coverings. The power plants are yet to be installed and the electrical system is going to be time-consuming and must be exacting in every detail.
The most important aspect in a project of this magnitude is the power of the propulsion system. Right from the onset, I focused on gasoline or glow engines. So sure of myself in this area, I quickly purchased four 91-glow engines not knowing how they would fit in the nacelles. I then realized the number one problem. I also purchased an ARF P-51 glow Mustang to learn to fly these airplanes. Problem Number two: When learning to service and start the glow engine, I found that my nimble legs (they’re kinda old these days) would not allow me to get out of the way quickly. Along came Engineer Stan who starting me thinking about switching to electric motors. So that is why primarily I switched to electric motors. I ordered the motors and the speed controllers with the expected delivery date the middle of February 2009. I sold the gas engines but took a bath on the sale.
But this keeps our expected test date in May of 2009 as originally planned. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.