AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

For years I have loved the looks of the Astro Hog. Always wanted to build one but never got around to it. Well, I decided to build a biplane for a Satio 91 I have. I looked up kits for this engine and the Hog Bipe looked like it would fit the bill. So I get a new biplane and a Astro Hog in one. I got the kit in and looked it over. I was aghast to see that the beautiful lines of the Astro Hog's fuselage has been replaced by the fast building box of the 4 Star 40. Worse is the curving lines of the nose have been replaced with the cheap and easy cheek slabs. No wonder I always see pictures of Hog Bipes on the net taken from the rear.
I thought of building the plane as is and then sheeting over the entire fuselage with 1/8 sheet balsa but decided that would ad ton of weight and still would have an overall boxy shape to it with just smooth corners added. So I've decided to build a fuselage from scratch the way they where built in the old days with slabs of balsa and triangle stock and long hours of sanding! I'm even going to go with the hard wood rail mounting for the engine like the original Astro Hog. I've bashed kits before but this will be the first time that I've bashed a kit to make it look like it's supposed to in the first place.

Jax RC-RCU

My Feedback: (7)

No matter what it looks like, the Hog Bipe is probably the best bipe I have ever flown. You can kit bash it by simply cutting off the slab cheeks at the firewall, and adding a round cowling. Also, you can
change the shape of the horizontal and vertical stabs real easy....instant 1930's vintage bipe without all the carving and sanding.

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

LOL, yeah your right about that. I wonder if the Hog Bipe will break the Ace 4-40 Bipe in kit bashing.

The nose cutting and stuff is the first thing I thought of but it still wouldn't look like a Hog.

This is how the front of the fuce should look.



Instead of the 4 Star 40 look.

Jax RC-RCU

My Feedback: (7)

Yeah, I guess your're right about that. Maybe if you added a top wing to an Astro Hog? or used an Astro Hog fus with the Hog Bipe wings?

YYC Guy

I built a Hog Bipe kit about 18 months ago. Upfront was an OS .91 Surpass that was a nice match. The main landing gear is too far aft IMO. Too many nose overs on my grass field. I moved it forward by about 1 1/4" and it made a huge differance. I also put "balance tabs" on the elevator and rudder. Your right about the nose. It looks too goofy. A nice cowling would be much better. It was a great flyer, but alas it met it's end about 4 months ago. A rushed preflight missed the elevator hinge working it's way loose. The A/C was always a "tad" nose-heavy. Once the elevator failed, it went into an immediate "dive" that ended up in a tree! From then on, I always "neutral balance" any machine... it MIGHT have stood a chance of a controlled crash if it were not nose heavy.

It became another sacrifice to the "Tree Gods".......

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

I agree the nose could use a little plastic surgery. On mine, I simply rounded out/reshaped the tail feathers to give a more 30's warbird look.

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

"I simply rounded out/reshaped the tail feathers to give a more 30's warbird look."


LOL OK. Take a look at the tail of a Curtis P6-E Hawk sometime. :P

Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm.

davo74

My Feedback: (1)

I have an old astro hog that I was given in a garbage bag last summer, I repaired it and it is now undeniably my favorite airplane. After rebuilding it, honing the hog bipe kit i have into a more traditional look sounds like a good idea, those THIN cheeks just dont fit the HOG persona...lol I am looking forward to flying it, sounds like it will be a blast!

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Go for it! Another member added stringers to his to give it a rounded shape. It gives the fuselage a short fat look like a Pitts. I designed a new fuselage using stringers around a box/crutch. I incorporated all the same dimensions for the wing cabanes and such so that didn't change only thing it my plane now is round but still retains the sleek look of a hog. Now I have to build it!

scott hayden

Not all Hogs are created equally <G>. I am currently putting the finishing touches on mine. Here are a few photos.

Scott

scott hayden

photo 2

scott hayden

photo 3

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Wow! Looks great!

FUZZ

Well,.... I do believe the Sig Hog-Bipe has to be one of the best bipes out there. It is very easy to build, and a great flier.. A Hog Bipe was my second kit that I had ever built and mine is great. I agree with most on the fact of how much better a hog can look with just a few simple mods like a cowl, or a lil modifications to the tail feathers. It's always pretty neat going to out of town fly-in's and having people ask which kit my Bipe is from, because i'm always doing the same to others trying to spot all of those bashed Hog's in the crowd. Well,... send some pics when done with your hog.


FUZZ

davo74

My Feedback: (1)

Scott,
Where did you get your cowl? Is it from another kit?

nysp2999

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

LOL, I had forgotten about this one. Man I wonder where in the 5 or 8 moves, I lost this uncompleted plane at?

foodstick

This is without a doubt the funniest thread in awhile...owner/builder fascinated with kit built plane..realizes he lost it in a move sometime in the last decade !

PRICELESS, dang it is so funny...

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Yeah Food I'll have to come back to this one. I was so ticked off about being had by Sig, that I didn't even miss it untill now. They just made a 4*60 bipe then rounded off the tail and called it a Hog Bipe. If I wanted a 4*60 Bipe I would have just bought a Ace 4-60 bipe, thank you very much Sig.

I'm going to just get a set of plans for the original 1956 Astro Hog and make a bipe from there. I'll have my Hog Bipe, a REAL Hog Bipe!