Here's some pics of the bottom wing joined and mounted to the fuse. i took a pic of how the blocks are installed to bolt the bottom wing on, but i think i erased them....oh well.
I took some extra time to make sure the incidence of the bottom as well as the top wing is right, kinda tricky but i think i got it. I would like to hear how some of you might have measured to make sure the top wing is straight with the bottom. What i did was measure from the back corners of the top wing back to the rear of the fuse, just like the bottom wing.

Heya Piper

Just came across your build - it's looking good.

Don't know if this comes too late but when I was building my GP Skybolt a few months back I ran across the same issue with the tank not being accessible after completion. Sooner or later all the silicon lines will need replacing and murphy's law being what it is, it'll be the ones in the sealed up tank compartment that let go first. I came across a thread that offered a nice solution to this - remove the brass tubes that come with your tank and get a length of copper tubing long enough to run from the inside of the tank all the way out through the firewall. You can see some shots of this in [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5070795/mpage_2/key_skybolt%2Cbuild/tm.htm]this thread[/link] on page two, down near the bottom dated 12/18/2006.

Hope this is of some use to you, though at the way you've been rocketing through the build it might be flying by now!

If you plan a head a little, you can remove a 12oz dubro tank from a hog bipe. I clearanced the tank floor and made a removable servo tray, and mine slides in and out, no problem.

i put a 14oz dubro tank in my Hog and it is fully removable. Like fenton said, you just have to plan ahead and do some shaving and shaping of the fuel tank area. Make sure everything works before you glue the stringers in for the top of the fuselage.

Key words....plan ahead.....i did give a top hatch alot of thought but, I guess i'm pretty much screwd as far as ever getting my tank out now unless i cut the top ribs and construct a hatch....guess i would've shaved the tank floor down if i would've thought of it or read it in your thread JCB, that looks like the way to go. damn hindsight!!

oh well...here's a pic of the progress from the week-end

i could easily squeeze a 12 minute flight with the 14 oz tank using the Saito 100. So a 12 oz tank isn't gonna kill ya!

I know, it's easy to get carried away when building a plane, the excitement of the finished product can be a bit overwhelming sometimes!

I have an older HB, flying with a SuperTigre 90, unlimited vertical right from takeoff. Lots of fun.

Ray

Hi all, it's been a while since i updated this thing but i have made some progress. I started on the tail section, everything went together nicely. I pinned the stab to the fuse and wouldn't you know it nice and straight. the four star and sse that i've built i had to do a little sanding on the fuse to get the stab straight. So here's some pics of the stab construction.........I love my slotting tool! it's awesome, much easier to mount the joiner rod.

I used Master Alex's method for covering, it's a little more time consuming but i do like the results alot........
I only have two pics here , the first is of my plans under glass, with the traced out pattern on the plastic sheet, this is like Alex said a simple pattern..........by the way I hope you don't mind Alex but as you can see I liked what you did with your bottom wing and decided to duplicate it......i'm not sure about the top of the wing yet, still thinkin about that one. I'd like to do something original, not whats on the box.
anyway heres my progress, just the bottom of the top wing so far.

What is it they say, "imitation is the highest form of flattery" ... I love the look Piper_37! I must admit, it's tough to corner the market on Black and White stripes . Thanks for the acknowledgment nonetheless!

What pattern are you doing on the top of the wings?

What covering did your use?

Looking good!

-MA

i have to say i like what you did with yours.............i do know what the colors are, i've got metalic purple and white. i like the pattern on the box but i like the sunburst pattern you've got goin more, i'll have to figure it out soon though.

Purple and White - nice. I almost went with that combo, but was redirected to the Orange and White coloring after someone posted some nice pictures of planes in that color combination.

-MA

Looks fantastic Piper! Keep it going. I have built two Hog Bipes from kit and I always enjoy following along when someone else builds one.

Here is one that one of our Club members built recently as well. Nice and bright colors that I thought turned out nice.

Don't want to hijack to much of your thread, but here is one more that a buddy of mine built last winter. He did his in Purple and Yellow...which I thought turned out nice as well. Come to think of it, I guess I have never seen an ugly Hog Bipe yet!LOL We currently have another member as well who is building a Hog Bipe. We are going to be swarming with Hog Bipes this summer at our field.....which is a good thing!

hi all! I finaly got to put some color on this bird.............again i used what i'm calling the Master Alex Method for the top of the wing. I'm pretty happy with the results. i think next time i'm using ultracoat instead of mono.....i've heard it shrinks better. Heres my progress from last night.

Nice results... ok then elucidate those of us getting less than satisfactory results; where can I find this method of Master Alex? While my ironing skills do the job and get my planes airborn, I could certainly use some *kote tutorials to improve things, especially when it comes to rounded wingtips.

Matt, you can find the method I use [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7266776]here.[/link] This is part of my Hog Bipe opus thread that's been going for more than a year now. Piper's putting all of us procrastinating hog builders to shame with his record build - and it looks great to boot!

-MA

Okay Piper, be honest - how long did it take you to cut the coating, stitch it together, and then apply to the wing? By the way, it looks fantastic!

And yes, Ultracote has a lower shrink temp than mono, and in my opinion it shrinks better. I use both and can get mono to shrink, but you really have to hit it with heat.

-MA

Master Alex..........I was workin on it for a couple hours but in that time i also did the last black and white half of the same wing. Checkerboard was EZ, the top half of the wing probably took me about an hour to do ........not counting the obsessive polishing and trimming..lol, and leaving to fill my cocktail glass with.......umm ....pop

Well heres the finished top wing, one down one to go. Just have the top to do on the bottom wing though. It went pretty smooth, still getting the hang of the whole template method.

Ahh I see. Looking very good Piper!

Hi all, heres the WINGS!! about time, thought they would never end......lol. Now it's on to the fuse, starting to come together. I ended up doing one side of the top of the bottom wing over again, heat gun got away from me......damn monokote. Otherwise it went pretty well. I mainly just ironed the edges and shrunk the rest.

Looks great!!!![8D] I look forward to following your progress on the fuselage.

very nice piper,
excellent quality and very speedy too