Thanks Ken, I am going to use a Saito 100 Gk, but I don't think the difference in the two is enough to warrant the change in a motor mount. Thanks for the info.

Day 6:
Not a bad day, all things considered, finished up the center top and bottom deck sheeting, finished off the mounting holes in the upper wing. The instructions say to use a 7/16" brass tube to cut the holes for the wing mounting screws in the deck sheeting, but I chose to use a 1/2". Not that I had that much disagreement with the isntructions, just that I had a little damage from redrilling the hole in the mounting blocks from below. I went too far through on the original hole when I drilled it out a little to plug it with a dowel. Anyway, the 1/2" hole just means a little more room to move the screw driver around when attaching the upper wing if necessary. And, if I feel the need, I can always drill it out a little and use a 1/4 X 20 nylon bolt for more strength.

Got the trailing edge cap on the wing and really had to use my imagination to figure out how to do it. As indicated, the TE wandered a little as you looked across it. It and moved some as soon as I took it off of the building board. It was straight while pinned down, but you know how balsa is, it sprung just a little when it was removed. I got even though, I pinned the wing back to the board (see the pictures) with the TE hanging over the edge of the board about 1 to 1 1/2 inches. This allowed me to have a solid hold on the wing and place it vertical when I sanded the entire length of the TE to get it straight. And it lined up the few ribs that were a little off center. I epoxied the TE in place using 30 minute epoxy. This gave me the time I needed to go along the TE and tape the cap in place. As luck would have it, the kit comes with 2 TE cap pieces of stock and both were a little warped. I used the one with the least amount of curve, and taped it in place, ensuring that I had both the bottom and top covered. (see pics) Finally, after it was dry, I had the fun job of sanding, sanding, turning the wing over and sanding some more. Then when I thought I was done I sanded some more. I can attest to the fact now, when you look down the trailing edge, it is as straight as I can make it. (Looks nice)

I am now finished for today. Not only tired of sanding, but am waiting for some filler to dry where a hole in the sheeting on the trailing edge was. When it dries, I just need to do some finish sanding and then it is on to the wing tips. I figure that should be done by tomorrow. If I make it, I will have finished the top wing (including first time through sanding) in just 8 days. I doubt if I can keep up this pace, but only time will tell. Here are the latest photos:

Hooked,
Don't get me wrong because I absolutely love the Hog Bipe, but you're just about the the point where you find out the Good News and Bad News of biplanes.

The good news- you have two wings to fly on.

The bad new - you have two wings to build!!!

you're doing a great job. keep it up.

Thanks Ken, You could have gone a long time without reminding me that I have another to go. I guess I will have to look at it the other way. At least I will know what to do on the next one, and I have one done already. I just have to make the dual servo modifications so I will have to avoid making any mistakes and forgetting to add in the supports, etc.

Following your progress and it looks great.

When you assemble the bottom wing halfs don't forget to put "conduits" from the servo bays to the root before glueing together. I simply rolled some bond paper around a dowel, inserted into the wing, and then let it unroll. Put a few drops of CA to hold in place.

Thanks dmanson: I hear you on the servo conduits. I have been reading and re-reading the instructions for the servo bays. Quite frankly, the pics that Sig provides in the ammeded instruction sheet are lacking. I have studied both the drawing and the pics and still have a question or two. As I see it, the basswood? mounting brackets just attach to the ribs on either side of the servo bay and then must be sanded to match the contour of the wing rib. At least that is what it appears. Is this correct, or is the mounting method different? It seems to me that the ribs are somewhat light in weight/strength to hold servo mounts. May not be the case, but I did question it during my reading.

Hooked,
Yes, the rails are glued directly to the ribs. If you measure correctly the rails will also butt up against the back of the spar and to the front of the trailing edge sheeting. Get a good tight fit to the spar and you'll be just fine.

Here's a couple pics of a finished servo bay on my Hog, hope this helps

Thanks Ken, the pictures do help a lot. I see now how the supports butt up to the spar, and didn't realize that they go back to the TE cap. I can see now how the strength will not be a problem when then mounting is done this way. Thanks for posting the pictures, they are a great help.

Hooked,
You are definately more than welcome. If there is anything else just let me know and I'll snap a pic of it if I can.

Description by Ken is right on the money. I had no problems and did exactly as he describes. I did add small triangular bracing to the 'posts' that the servos mount on. Was a bit worried about the security of the butt joint between the post and the hatch. That may have been overkill, but I'd hate to lose a servo due to vibration and force.

Day 7:
Really didn't get too much done today, only spent 1 1/2 hours on the build. The temp was down a little and I just didn't want to spend the time it takes to heat up the garage with the kerosene heater. Still, it wasn't that unpleasant, I just needed to do a little less today than others. I did finish up the sanding on the TE cap, and smoothed up the area where I had filled in in the wing center top. It is smooth now, but I did put my thumb through the TE sheeting. I have noticed that after my sanding, this sheeting is somewhat thin now. It is very sensitive to my touch now, and I could break other areas if I am not careful. I have considered going back with either some 1/4" triangle stock or just some 1/16" sheeting glued between the ribs on the backside of the sheeting. This would give it more support and keep me from putting my thumb or finger through it again. I am not too worried about the plane's overall weight since I will be using a Saito 100. I figure that a little more support on the TE sheeting would be worthwhile. This is a mod I hadn't considered, but it may be by necessity that I do it.

Anyway, you can see by my pics that the wiing tips are now on and in place. In fact you can see that on one of them I decided to slip in some triangle stock for more support. I did this because I noticed that after sanding the end of the wing tip the braces weren't at a true 90 degree angle and the support was pretty poor. The triangle stock worked great. On another note, in one of my pics, you can see where the LE sheeting did not come in contact with the end rib. So, I will take the wing tip brace on that part, and make a new one out of the same thickness of stock. I will trace the actual rib on the end and cut it to match the shape of the wing. After gluing it in place against the end of the wing sheeting, I will then fabricate a new wingtip sheeting brace to match the shape. It will take a little longer, but the end of the wing will be stronger for it, and will hold the shape better when shrinking the ultracote.

NOTE: It's funny, since I am taking pictures of my progress, I am finding that I am keeping my benchtop cleaner than I usually do. Maybe I am on to something here?....

Here are the latest pictures:

I had the same experience of putting fingers through the sheeting. In fact, one time I dropped the wing and caught it before it reached the floor. Would have been a good 'save' except that I put my fingers through the deck in several places. As I mentioned in my post of 1/19, I doubled up the sheeting on some places to give extra strength hoping to make the decking stronger. When possible, I ran the grain of the add-on sheeting in the opposite direction.

dmanson: I did catch your comment on doubling the sheeting on your post. I was thinking more on the LE sheeting than on the trailing edge. I had problems with the LE on my Somethin Extra, but the trailing edge sheeting was ok. Looks like the opposite situation on this one. I will be getting some 1/16" stock and reinforcing the TE, and will take your suggestion and run the grain 90 degrees to the existing TE. Thanks for the comments.

Yup have to love 2 wings but like said you also have to build them, bummer.[&o] I'm doing a GB Ultimate right now and all the frame work is done and spackling on and now sanding, darn I hated doing that second wing!!!!! I have flown the Hog Bipe and it's one of the sweetest I have even flown outside the Ultimate and you'll enjoy it, had a OS .90 on the one I flew.

Looks like you're having as much fun as I am. I have decided to take the time to cut and place a second sheet of 1/16" balsa between the ribs and on the back side of the TE sheeting. If I am to handle the wing any more, the support really needs to be there. The last thing I need is to have the underlying structure weak after I put the covering on. So, I will begin after work today and will be using Titebond glue. Won't need pics of this process since once the sheeting is in place, it will be hidden anyway. Using the titebond will also get me away from the CA for a couple of days. Between the balsa dust (yes I used a mask while sanding) and the CA fumes, I have watery/burning eyes, and am sneezing quite a bit.

rcken/dmanson:
I do have one question though. Did you find it difficult to add the wingtip sheeting on the front of the wingtip? It seems to me that this appears to be a compound curve. Maybe it isn't, but I haven't bent balsa in a shape like this before. I almost considered adding solid balsa wingtips, but decided to try the way that is indicated. Any help on this would be appreciated.

Hooked,
It is a bit of a compound curve, but it's not too bad. Wet your sheeting and take your time getting it into shape. I use Elmer's carpenter clue and placed about 5 pounds worth of weight bags (same as I mentioned earlier in the thread) on the sheeting and then let it dry. It's a lot easier to do than it looks from the instructions.

I don't recall it being especially difficult to do the wingtip sheeting. I do remember cutting a piece slightly larger than required and then slowly/carefully trimming the (not quite) right angle edges until they fit perfectly. Before glueing to the wing, I trimming the excess sheeting at the wingtip to about a 1/4 inch to minimize difficulty in bending. Also be sure to sand the plywood wingtip piece (sort of to a knife blade shape) so that there is good amount of bonding surface for the glue. Once the glue is cured, trim and sand.

Good luck. Thanks for your diary. It's been a pleasure to follow your work.

Thanks for the replies on the wingtips guys. I will bring you up to date when I am in the process. Like I said, I wil be adding strengthening sheets to the internal side of the TE sheeting. Once completed, I will pick up the wing tip installation again. The way things are going, I will probably be ready tomorrow night, or Saturday. Gotta take out the wife once in a while, and Friday fits the bill. No football either this weekend, so another couple of long building sessions are planned. Will need to go by Lowes and get more kerosene for the space heater. Will post more later.

Day 8:
Well I am not happy and am trying to decide what to do. Today, I decided to reinforce the TE sheeting on the top wing. Since the CA has been bothering me quite a bit, I decided to use titebond glue. You can see from the pics that it did not go well. For all but 3 bays on the left side all was OK. However, on the middle bays, the TE sheeting had become so thin from sanding that it was pretty thin. When I glued the 1/16" sheeting on the back side, it warped quite a bit. I am now trying to figure out what to do. I have considered filling the warped area with Hobbylite filler than sanding smooth. And have even thoguht about taking out the sheeting between the ribs, building side supports and refilling with 1/16" sheeting. I am just not in a mood to make the decision yet, so I have pushed in some clothespins to try to keep the surface as flat as possible and once the glue dries, I will think about my next move. Btw, the pictures really don't show the dips in the sheeting very well.

Ideas on what to do are welcome and will be appreciated!!!

I just didn't like the interplane struts without reinforcement of the screw holes, it seemed the liteply would wear immediately.
So, I got some extra 4-40 blind nuts and glued them into the i-struts. They're installed so the cap screws tighten against the back of the nut, like a built-in washer and sleeve. Then the threads were drilled out so the screw slips through and tightens the strut against the wing mounting tab.
Other ideas on the fubarhill site, thanks to Eric Kler!
Viva le Hog

swooper: I like that idea and will incorporate it into my build. I had read most of what was on Fubarhill, and I guess I skimmed over this one without thinking. I am still considering my next option on the TE sheeting though. It did straighten out somewhat as the titebond dried, but there are still some dips in the sheeting between the ribs. Until I get this worked out, I am at a stopping point. Thanks for the input on the strut connections.

If you use the stock mount don't use self tapping screws. Drill all the way through and use lock nuts on the bottom. I broke at least two with a Saito 91 up front. The extra stress of the screws pushing on the plastic is too much. At least mine only broke during landing. It wouldn't have been much fun up in the air. I have at least 50 flights on the current mount without the self tapping screws. My only mods were a pull pull rudder, elevator servo under the horizontal stab and I reshaped the tail. Flys great.

Thanks for the info lrb. I make it a point to not use self tapping screws when mounting my engines. I just don't feel comfortable without bolting it all the way through the mount.

Day 9 (Of building ...not counting from first day of building)
Well I'm back in the shop again. For those who have read the "What Can Be Done?" thread in the clubhouse, you know that I got a big lungfull of CA fumes while doing some sanding. I have spent the last few days coughing and hacking and in general with a lot of pain in my lungs and throat. (CA can be real b***ch) Anyway, I am feeling much better now and will have to watch myself closer. I am very careful when applying the stuff, this just caught me off guard cause I was sanding with a Dremel.

Ok..back to the build. In previous posts, I mentioned that the TE sheeting warped when I applied the second sheet of 1/16" balsa between each rib on the back side of the TE sheeting. I was doing this to increase the strength of the sheeting due to it becoming pretty thin during sanding the TE. Well all is fixed now. I used Elmers Wood filler (recommended by Minnflyer in another thread) and have sanded the warped parts back into shape. I would have included pics of the repair, but you can't see much, which is the point, right? So tonight I decided to start with the wing tip sheeting (boy you just can't get away from that sheeting stuff can you..) In my pictures you can see that one end of the Leading Edge (LE) was up and off of the rib and just hanging there without support. The picture of my hand and pencil show me tracing the outline of the new shape on 1/16" flat stock. After cutting out a new support, I epoxied (yes, epoxied not CA'd) the newly shaped rib support in place. This will provide the support needed on the end of the wing and my next step will be to but up the wing tip sheeting to the new rib material.

The other pictures are of my progress on the wingtips. I glued the sheeting along the wing tip supports provided in the kit, then I soaked the balsa with pure ammonia. Smelled like heck , but it really works well for bending the wood without splitting. After the wood softened enough, I pulled in place and clipped it with clothes pins. It did leave some small dents where they pressed into the wood, but I have had great success with using a covering iron and water to draw back out the surface. I will do this on during my finish sanding phase. Here are the pictures of my progress. I have both bottom wingtips in place and will continue with the top ones tomorrow. Would have done more, but I am still a little gunshy around the glues. A few days more and I will probably be gluing myself to the plane again.

Cool build thread, I have a Hog Bipe still in the box, I have a Thunder Tiger .91 4ST for it, have most of the electronics, just looking for time to build, my space is limited, I need to finish my friends Bridi Killer Chaos before I can start on any of my projects.
I haven't looked at the plans or instructions, but how do you go about moving the landing gear forward 1/2", is it the entire assembly block or just the gear hardware itself?
Joe