I have just finished the construction of a Hog Bipe and am in the process of covering it now. Before your build got too far along, I wanted to alert you to a small problem I encountered in the construction of the fuselage. On page 12 (10a-b), the instructions call for gluing formers F-2 and F-4 to the forward deck and attaching the stringers. Before gluing in the stringers, I happened to lay a straightedge from former F-1A (on the firewall) back to former F-5. In my kit, F-2, and especially F-4, were out of alignment. The middle stringer notch on F-4 was nearly 1/8" too low. The notches on either side were also too deep. If the stringers had been glued in, there would have been a definite sag in the three uppermost stringers in the span from F-1A to F-5. (Note that there are no stringers extending from F-4 to F-5.)

I mentioned this to another flyer in the club and he said that he didn't notice this when he built his and consequently when he attached his sheeting (page 13, 11a-b), it wasn't making contact with the uppermost stringers over former F-4. I simply laid in my stringers using the straightedge, adding filler to the bottom of the notches as needed. It seems to me that since a large portion of the sheeting will be cut out for the cockpit in this area, it's especially important that the sheeting is well supported by the stringers all the way around.

wuness