Hi guy's----------------What would be a good first biplane,say 50 to 88'' wing span? Something easy to fly,slow and easy!!!-------Thank's Charlie

I've had 3 of them now. One of the best bipes out there all around. Sig Hog Bipe. Can't go wrong with it.

How much experience do you have with monoplanes? If you are an intermediate pilot, then a byplane shouldn't be too difficult. I have a Pitts (Cermark) and a Goldberg Ultimate. Neither are really easy to fly, but are allot of fun and very aerobatic. The more aerobatic the byplane is, the more it can be a handful.

A key thing with a biplane is that they have much drag and require power all the time to fly. Now that being said, I have a friend that built one from scratch using two Sig Kadet Senior ARF wings. That had to be the easiest, slowest biplane I ever flew, and it was a fairly windy day. He had a OS 1.20 (pumped) on it and the engine was dead sticking, which it did on me just as the nose lifted and climbed about six feet. Normally that would have been it for my pitts or ultimate, but I just pushed forward on the stick and glided this beauty in with no problem.

The range you are looking at would be a 1.20 sized Stearman or something in that range. There are a bunch of biplanes out there, so it is pretty much up to you, how much you want to spend and how big you want to go. The thing with most planes, is the bigger the better. This is true of Bipes especially. There are a couple of small ones that fly really well, but are very quick and unforgiving. The Great Planes Pitts and Christen Eagle take a wide range of engines, my recommendation would be a Moki 2.10 or ST3250 on either, or a 50 to 60 gas engine. The later being more expensive and heavier.

Aeroworks has a 27% Ultimate made for a light weight 50cc gas, that a Moke would work on too. I have heard allot of good things about this one as well.

My Goldberg Ultimate is hanging in the LHS for sale, my pitts is still in my hanger. Color preference really, I can see the pitts red and white much better than the blue and yellow of the ultimate. Just had the pitts longer, and have an attachment to it. Both of those planes will fit in my minivan assembled, which is a plus with a bipe. The bigger ones usually have to be transported in pieces and assembled at the field, so you may want to consider that as well.

Good luck in your search for a good bipe.

thank's for the info!!

Thank's for the info!!

If this is your first biplane, but if you have some experience and don't mind a little building, you might check out the two profile bipes from Ohio Model Products. I don't think a bipe is that much different than flying anything else, except for the drag issue as stated above. You just have to keep a little power on. Its kind of like flying a warbird or similar with a higher wing loading.

I have a Waco, Pitts, and a Sopwith Pup. I think my next biplane will be the OMP Boxxer. I have built a few other planes designed by Jeremy Chinn (mostly 1/2a stuff) and they have all been good solid flyers. I would expect the Boxxer to be the same.

Duke

the other thing is the orientation. i had an ultimate and i swear if i'm not fully concentrating, i have to move the sticks to figure out if its going away from me, toward me, upright or inverted. made for very exciting flights.

another thing is its sensitivity to CG. most bipes i know are very short coupled so if you don't get the CG right, bipes are a handful. my ultimate's maiden was a heart-stopper. the plane was so tail-heavy that it would climb at orientation. even at knife edge it was climbing at a little over half throttle. nearly peed my pants. after i rectified the situation, it was just as easy to fly as any of my sport plane. and absolutely beautiful.

Fore - that is because you bipe has only a 35" w/span!!! Hehehe ... so how have you been? I love the Model Tech Ultimate ... 40 sized and easy to fly.

I agree with the SIG Hog Bipe. BUT...I have had the Carl Goldberg Ultimate and if you use the YS110 turning a 16X6 APC you will have a great combo especially if you use twin elevator servos in the tail for the elevators. I did this and was able to move the tank onto the CG with no added weight.

As others have mentioned, bipes need power all the way to the ground. That being said, my CG ultimate was probably one of the best flying bipes I have had. With the combo I suggested, it would take off at half throttle, cruise around all day long at half throttle and on low rates it was a big baby. Turn up the rates and send this thing into one of the most beautiful inverted flat spins you ever saw. Lomcevac's were wild once it got started and blenders were extremely violent but very easy to control. Rotation around the yaw axis was unbelieveably fast but very easy to handle.

At first I did have orientation issues with it but I added stripes on the bottom at a 45 degree angle pointing towards the nose on both wings and the horizontal stab and some lettering on the top of the top wing and it became allot easier.

Now I am currently getting started on the Wildhare Ultimate using a 50cc gas (haven't decided on which one yet) I also have a GP Super Stearman on the bench that's almost completed using a lightened G26 Zenoah. I actually have flown this combo before and it's also a good first bipe. Use the recommended OS120FS and you will need 18oz's in the nose but they supply a weight box for it. I also flew that combo and it's not bad at all.

If you are pretty good at orientation, can pretty much make a plane do whatever you want it to do safely, then I would say go for the bipe. You will never not have one again. I sold my Ultimate and spent all winter in withdrawl [] so I bought two just in case.

Bubba, I had a 120 4S on mine, changed to a ST90, reducing weight and wingloading. Mine also has two mini servos in the tail for split elevators. It came to life with the lighter 2S engine with a 14X6 prop.

I added yellow diamonds to the bottom wing to help with orientation. But at 57 years, the floaters in the eye on cloudy days makes it harder to see with so much blue. Am going towards red and yellow airplanes. It's hell getting older. That's why I kept my Pitts, the red and white color scheme makes it really easy to see. Really liked the Ultimate, even considered a big one, but am looking at a Large red and yellow extra 330.

Happy Landings.

<<...in withdrawal...>>

Yup. I built a CG Ultimate when the kit first came out in 1992. Flew it many years, then sold it and missed it terribly. I got the ARF when it came out, and will keep that one until it is no longer serviceable. I have semi-retired it twice now, using the engine and radio for another project, but it is hanging up in my spare room and WILL be resurrected yet again.

Bipes have a mystique that is difficult to quantify; but it will bite you. I'm about to begin a Great Planes Super AeroMaster kit, and have a Sig SkyBolt to do after that. There's a Thunder Tiger Sport Bipe ARF kit in the corner, for one of those "burn-out" periods we all experience when doing a complicated kit build. And I imagine I'll own some variety of Pitts M-12 before too long; that is one delicious-looking airplane.

I will second Bill's comments on the CG Ultimate. This airplane is a big p***ycat on low rates, and can be as docile as you want it to. It is unbelievable easy to land. The kit is easy to build, and the ARF is top quality. My kit-built had an OS 1.20, and the ARF had/has a Laser 150, both of which were just right for the airplane, IMO. I haven't built a Hog bipe, but I'm told it is much less complicated than the older Sig bipes; and it flies very well. It lands a bit hotter than the CG Ultimate, but that sort of thing can be very subjective; the one I flew might have been overweight.

At any rate, there is plenty out there for you to choose from. Bipes are cool. You won't regret getting one.

Mike,

I hear that about the floaters in the eyes. The CG blue caolor was hard to see and the single stripe they give you for the arf was just not enough. I also used Hitech high torque mini's in the tail and the wing. This plane was a blast and I spent all last summer flying the crap out of it.

I cannot wait to see what the Wildhare Ultimate will do . It's a gorgeous plane. I did get to the the first production plane in Toledo.

I bought the Stearman to have a little piece of nestalga. Dang thing sure it a great looking bipe. Picks do not do it justice, this is one you must see in person to really appreciate

tIANci - :-p that's very true... so it's a little on the small side! i picked up the WM ultimate 40s last weekend. thinking about making it soon. it's also like a meter by a meter. small enough to carry in my MINI!!! it's purple. rather like the red white and blue pattern better. the global on is very pretty but not sold in taiwan (or hong kong).

If you can get your hands on this one,they are excellent.
I had one with an Enya R-120,and it was very stable.
Mike
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...973870781&rd=1

You guys are scaring the hell out of me.....I had a little OS .25 sitting around with very little choices of planes to put it on these days. I saw a little bipe on the internet that said it was for a .25-.30 engine size, so I snatched it up. Now I'm wondering if I've got enough power, if I'll be able to see the damn thing in the air, or if I will even be able to fly it, since I only recently moved up to a semi-symetrical wing trainer (the Hanger 9 Arrow).

Like all of you, I've always loved the looks of a bipe, and have always dreamed of flying one. I thought this was an inexpensive way to venture into it, but even with that, I'm thinking I should sit on the side line and let a more experienced pitlot fly it for me for a while.

At 58, my depth perception sucks, and my reverse coordination leaves me at the worst times.

Maybe I should put flashing lights on the underside of the bottom wing........

Mike, that looks a lotl like the Thunder Tiger Sport Bipe ARF that steve campbell mentioned earlier. naturally, the TT is much smaller being a 40 size bipe. great first bipe in my opinion. mine was the little ultimate... i nearly peed in my pants on the first few flights when CG was too far back.

The TT Tiger Bipe is actually a bit smaller than 40 size- its more along the lines of the old Ace 4-40 bipe, one of which I had with a .25 SF and it flew fine. I believe a .25 two stroke will fly this Tiger Bipe okay, but with no reserve power. The model is rather petite, and uses ultra-light vacuum-formed pieces for the cowl and wheel pants. I plan to reinforce those with the old nylon stocking trick, and then re-paint; but I'll be using a 52 Surpass four stroke for power.

TT reccommends their .36 two-stroke. The question is; does that mean the model NEEDS a .36, or is it because a .36 is the only engine TT makes in that range...?

Word is that the tail is weak on this airplane. Looking at the parts, I can believe it. I also intend to fabricate and fit balsa tri-stock braces for the horizontal stab. Being a kit builder too has its advantages: I already have the necessary color UltraCote and UltraPaint to handle these minor chores.

But the Tiger Bipe appears to be a nice little ARF that should fly fine. It will be some time before I get around to doing mine. BShin, keep us posted on your progress.