Mr. Bally has just recently passed away, and I mean no offense whatsoever to his work or his legacy... but... there is a very important lesson in the Bally Bomber for all homebuilts enthusiasts. Before embarking on a replica of that general scale or nature, figureout what has really worked and what hasn't. The Bally aircraft should have had an incredible career, paying its own way as a star attraction at airshows worldwide, and being flown all the time. The B-17's proportions were really good, and by all rights it should have flown beautifully. Big thick blunt airfoil, very modest wing taper, great big tail for a wide CG range, great big fin and rudder. All the ingredients were there for a good flying airplane.
But apparently (from what little we heard) it didn't fly well enough, and it was not enough of an "every day" airplane to have gone on the airshow circuit. It was put up for sale very soon after it flew, and nobody was interested. The answers to why it was not enjoyable to fly, or why it wasn't everything Bally had wanted it to be... after all the time and money he had spent... need to be understood.
I would love to see a PBY or B-25 replica, I am a fan of both of those airplanes like most of us here. I just wouldn't want to see someone go down that path without a better chance of the result being successful.