Just purchased a Sig Hog Bipe kit and want to go with a gasser. Want to add smoke and use equiv of a 1.20 4 stroke glow for power and weight.

The five I've looked at are below.

FGC 20cc from HobbyKing $160-Good specs, lightest
DLE 20cc Tower 3 x $75 easy pays -Good specs, light
Evolution 20GX $279
OS GT22 - expensive $409 - why $$$ ?
Saito FG21 - nicest looking and sounding - 4 stroke!! but $439!!

Any feedback on experience with any, or suggestions on which one maybe you would go with and why, would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

I have a Saito 100 glow on mine,and I honestly think it's the perfect motor for a Pig. I also honestly think 20CC gas is to big a motor for it. It's also my belief that below 20cc gas engines start getting prohibitively heavier in the power to weight ratio. Mine balances perfect with a Saito 100,and it tears up the sky
All that said,if I HAD to go gas,I would probably go with the DLE 20. I think it's the best bang for the buck,and the most power for it's weight. I have both a DLE 20,and 30. Both are very reliable.
Saito 100's and .91s ( a .91 is a good choice also) both go extremely reasonable here on the classifieds. Of course they might need new bearings,but they really aren't that hard to put in. I still love my glow planes
Hog bipes have kind of a cult following.they are "unique".
There are 4 or 5 pages of them here on Fubar hill,just scroll down to hog Bipes.
http://www.fubarhill.com/

My Flying buddy has a "HOG" Bipe and it is quite impressive with an OS 91 but does not produce unlimited vertical performance. Attaching a DLE 20cc engine to a hog would be interesting to me because it sounds like something I would do and it would probably WAIL and have unlimited out of sight vertical!

Good luck on finding the room for a smoke tank though.

Just curious, but why is unlimited vertical necessary ?

Hiya Tom!
Unlimited vertical performance is not necessary, but possibly desirable in this case. A few times, I witnessed my friend's OS 91 surpass powered hog wallowing over the crowd of people on the verge of stalled mayhem...you now the scene...left wing dropping due to torque, he's standing on the right aileron stick and nothing is happening so he nails the right rudder and it flip/snaps over to the right, oops! We're heading for high alpha inverted flight here, then by some kind of a weird miracle he makes it out of that one and says: "Did you guys see that?!"


All I'm saying is it wouldn't hurt to have a little more oomph. Now, the next size up is a 1.20 which is a 20cc power plant and if this guy can fit one under the hood I say more power to him! Pun intended!

Although the most expensive one, I'm thinking for weight, sound, and in order to stay within vintage guidelines specifying up to 1.20 four stroke, I'm really leaning towards the Saito.

I'll use smaller tanks, up to half the size required, so I can maybe get two tanks inside, one for gas, the other for smoke. Four or five minute flights are fine for me. Anyone know of a double bladder tank that can hold both gas and smoke oil and is about 12-16 oz total?

Anyone have experience with this engine, and is it reliable? I knew of one other person who had a Saito gas engine and it seemed they had problems. Also, is a canister muffler available for the Saito FG21?

Did a comparison of 20cc engines for weight, price and power, chart attached. Looks like the Saito, the only four stroke, is the most expensive, only 2 oz heavier than the lightest, and appears small enough to fit the Hog Bipe. Have to start saving my pennies. Saw a used one on ebay starting price 270, will continue to look for a good used one. Any advice on any, or others, appreciated.

Any update now that getting glow fuel has become very difficult.

I'm going to say that you are out of luck with regard to the original poster. He hasn't written anything here in a decade. There are still 20cc engines in production, but I think OP might have been a bit ambitious with wanting to try to cram a fuel tank and a smoke tank into a Hog Bipe. If you are doing a Hog Bipe you might want to consider modifying the firewall a bit to accommodate the size and weight of the engine but it should be doable.