Lots of good threads about modifying the Hog Bipe, many of which I will do on mine that I am about to start!!

Question, though... I would like to use the Fiberglass Specialties radial cowl, but it doesn't match up very well with the straight sides of the plane. If I decided to add light balsa formers and stringers to the sides to give it a more rounded look, and just covered it with covering, would this add too much weight, especially behind CG to be of concern?

I will use an OS .91 Surpass for power.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Bill

Flaring the cowl into the sides should have no bad effects.. I have never owned that plane but I know its so light wing loaded.. it will still fly great. I hope you post some pics. I have done some kit-bashing in the past and there is not a lot of it documented on RCU anymore.

I would not expect any adverse impact as well. consider other kits out there and how they are built and additional structure. O know for some builders, weight is an extreme focus. If you are sport flying, you should never see or feel impact.

if really curious, get you a Walmart digital kitchen scale. throw the new additional parts on top and weigh them before gluing in place. You could also then weigh some of the original kit parts just for comparison.

with all that said, a few stringers and a handful of new formers, I would not sweat in significant weight gain on this kit.