RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

i am using the Sig CA hinges that come with the kit. A buddy of mine uses CA hinges on his hog w/o any problems and he really throws his plane around the sky.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Ya, this is only a 60 size Plane. You will wear the airframe out before you ever wear out those CA hinges. I have built two Hog Bipes and have used the stock CA hinges on both without any troubles or worries at all. If we were talking large 3D surfaces than I could maybe see exploring other options, but IMO the CA hinges are plenty adequate for this Plane.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Stock CA hinges here as well, no probelms at all.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

CA easy hinges - that sounds way too easy guys. Would you stray from using them on a Somethin' Extra?

Broader issue: What determines when to use something else? Is the speed of the servo? Is it the throw of the control surface? Is it the size of the control surface (implicitly the size of the plane)? Is it the frequency of using the control surface (aerobatics)? Is it personal preference? I know - it's the sum of all of the above in one package. [:@]

Tia,

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

I think it moslty hinges (sorry bout the pun) on the amount of throw on the control surface. Strength wise, they are just as strong as any other type in my opinion. However, when you start bending them, or stretching them, they could become weak.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

You can install Robarts or other plastic type pinned hinges if you feel more comfortable doing so, but usually hinges like this are more beneficial in larger Planes, and those with larger surfaces, or certain Planes where surface flutter is a possible or known trait of the Plane. Also 3D type Planes of all sizes where you have a large amount of deflection on the surfaces. Even though the Hog is not a Scale Plane, its surfaces are however pretty much scale in size to what would be expected for a barn storming Bipe like this in this size, and I don't think you will ever regret using the CA hinges as long you install them right. However if you prefer to use something else, than there would be no problem there either if you felt better using something else.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Sort of ... ;)

I will do the bottom of the wings first. I will likely do the stripes as individual sheets - this is what I did on my SSE that I covered this way. The tops, will be done as "assembled" sheets of multi-color. I will take pics once I start that process. Was that any clearer than my original? I've been on the road all day and this may only make sense to me [sm=bananahead.gif] ...

-MA

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

MA - gotcha - Bein' new to this stuff I'm just trying to understand the "sequence" of covering that works.

You gonna wrap the bottom up just over the top of the leading edge - then wrap the top assembly down over the bottom?

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

POOP! my top left aileron is binding...BAD!! I can only get about 7/16" deflection out of it in the down direction [:@] . I think I found the problem area and will have to carefully remove a bit of material to get everything right. I usually gap the control surfaces on my sport planes at 1/64" without any problems. I gapped all the surfaces on this plane just like that and they all are great except that one aileron and only in the down direction...DANGIT!! I guess i should have triple-checked the shape before covering...

The only things i have left to do before flying are: (1) attach throttle control rod to servo, (2) permanently install receiver and battery, (3) break in engine (4) fix that crappy aileron - and it will be ready to rock!

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

As I mentioned last weekend, I wrapped up the tail feathers. This was a fairly simple set of steps, with an equally fair amount of sanding/shaping to go with it. The creation of the horizontal stab was very easy (picture1). Building over the plans was a snap. You have to edge glue two smaller sheets in order to create the proper sized sheeting for the finished Stab (picture2). I trued up the edges, and titebonded them together before sanding the sheets smooth. I used titebond to glue the sheets to the Stab.

The elevators shown in Picture2 have been sanded and shaped according to the plans. I ended up using a scroll saw to get them close to the right shape and sanded the rest of the way.

Next I added the Elevator Joiner Wire to the two elevator halves. I marked each piece according to the plans and used a little pin drill to get pilot holes started. From there, I drilled the proper sized hole in the elevator to take the joiner. At this point, I inserted the joiner wire and marked the outer edges of the wire on the elevators so I knew where to cutaway in order for the wire to sit flush with the leading edge (picture3). Once both elevators were prep’d I epoxied in the joiner wire and pinned directly over the plans to keep straight.

You’ll remember I finished the Fin/Rudder earlier so I was effectively ready for the next step.

Before putting on the Stab and aligning and gluing that onto the Fuse, I decided to take a page out of my SSE build where you shape the filler blocks on a jig. I decided that I’d give that method a try here on the Hog. In order to do this properly, I built a jig like you see in picture5. I tack glued the balsa blocks to the jig, placed it on the tail and marked it (picture6). My razor plane made quick rough work of the blocks. Afterwards I hit it with my 100 grit sanding block and it was close. I shaped it a bit more with 220 grit paper and was left with the results you seen in Picture7. It was only a matter of sliding a screwdriver between the filler and the jig to pop them free.


Picture1 – Horizontal Stabilizer built up over the plans.
Picture2 – Finished Horizontal Stab, after sheeting
Picture3 – Joiner wire inserted and cutouts marked for dremel work
Picture4 – Before and after shots of the elevator
Picture5 – Jig to shape/sand filler blocks
Picture6 – Balsa blocks on the Jig – one side shaped, the other has not. Notice the outline of F8 on the block
Picture7 – Finished blocks (still on jig) positioned appropriately on the tail
Picture8 – Filler blocks popped off the jig and positioned

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Now that the Stab, Fin and balsa filler were done, I dry fitted the whole tail assembly onto the Fuse. You can see from Pictures1, 2 and 3 that everything is fitting together nicely.

Unfortunately, not perfectly.

Look at Picture4, you can see that the Horizontal Stab slopes a bit to the right (the right side is lower than the left). I will have to correct this before epoxying the Stab onto the Fuse.
Before correcting this problem, I followed the instructions and found the proper alignment of the tips of the Stab to the trailing edge of the bottom wing. Once positive of the positioning, I clamped the Stab and marked the underside so I could easily re-position when I got around to epoxying.

From there, I started to carefully sand the left side of the Stab platform periodically checking to see how close I was to getting the Stab level with the bottom wing. This is somewhat of an “eyeball” process, but you can see in Picture5 how much better the Stab matches the bottom wing after a little TLC on the Stab Platform.

BTW, my Orange UC showed up Friday so I have the proper covering and can start soon. I will epoxy on the Fin later this afternoon and will then be ready to start covering (after a bit of sanding). Also, I bought some Orange paint today at the hardware store – not sure of the “match” to UC. If its way off, I may end up shaping some scrap balsa into the headrest and covering with UC – we’ll see, the Jury’s still out.

Picture1 – Tail Assembly dry fit
Picture2 – Tail Assembly dry fit
Picture3 - Tail Assembly dry fit
Picture4 – Not a perfect fit … I’ll have to lower the left side to make it even
Picture5 – Stab fits much better … this has been epoxied and is now curing

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Its looking good, and once again you are making very quick work of it.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Well I’m back at it …

I’m at the stage where there’s not much point in posting pictures of me sanding and creating balsa dust. My last posting talked about attaching the Fin to the Stab, which I did that same day (Picture1 and 2).

I also happened to hit the local hardware store for some Orange spray paint. My local Menards had a color that I believe matches the Orange Ultracote closely. I managed to spray a couple of coats onto the pants and headrest (picture3) – I will hit these with clearcoat tomorrow.

As I was sanding down the fuselage and wings, I noticed a few gaps in the wing saddle area (picture4) … nothing problematic, just something I’d rather not see when I bolt on the wings. I saw a “how-to” article on Caffeenman’s site regarding the use of Micro Balloons and Epoxy to clean up wing saddles. I decided to give it a try on the Hog.

Following Paul’s instructions, I made up a batch of filler, and taped some wax paper down onto the wing (picture5). Next I liberally spread the filler onto the wing saddle area and bolted down the wing. This was the first time I had tried this method and I was a little nervous about the whole thing. As I bolted down the wings, the filler oozed from the gaps (picture6). Once the filler was well into curing, I removed the wing (picture7) and let it continue curing. Once I was sure that the filler was fairly set, yet still “wet” enough to trim, I took a razor blade to it and trimmed the edges flush with the fuselage (picture8).

I neglected to snap an “after shot”, but it looks great. Very little gap remains and my eye will not be drawn to it when I see it at the field.

Next up – the covering begins

Picture1 – Fin epoxied onto stab – note the triangle to ensure proper angle
Picture2 – Fin from front angle
Picture3 – Plastic parts painted Orange – Ultracoat roll in the background seems a close match
Picture4 – Gap in wing saddle that I’d like to remedy
Picture5 – Wax paper taped onto wing to protect from Epoxy filler
Picture6 – Filler oozed from the gaps when I tightened down the bolts
Picture7 – Wing removed (sigh of relief), but I left the wax paper on
Picture8 – Filler trimmed using a razor blade

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Very Nice in did,

when doing the saddle there is some fear that there is a hole in the wax paper.... [:-] so im not waiting whole 2 hours,

cheers :) when it went off with out drama.

like it when parts in perfect match to each other.

after how much time did you took it apart?

can you tell more about the wheel pants?

thanks

Alex

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

So I’m going with the Orange/White covering scheme that I posted a few weeks back. The undersides of the wings are “traditional” Black/White stripes. The Orange/White pattern on the top of the wings will be in a “sunburst” type pattern.

I decided that I wanted to try and create the pattern on top of the plans and then attach to the wing as a single sheet. This way, I could join the individual pieces of Ultracote on top of the plan and disregard if/where the sheeting lied underneath.
Since I always start with the bottom part of the wing first, I decided to practice using this technique and see what I could learn before doing the more intricate top sunburst pattern; so off to the Art Supply house for some thin plastic.

I cut the plastic to the appropriate size and then traced half the top wing pattern onto it (including the wing tip). Since the wings are symmetrical, I don’t need to do one for each half. It should be noted that the top and bottom wings are not the same size. For the purpose of both patterns, I will trace the bigger wing half (the top) and use it to create both top and bottom covering sheets. Picture7 shows the plastic with the wing traced onto it and the stripes marked onto the plastic. I used a thin sharpie for this and therefore it’s permanent.

Next, I placed the plan under my glass tabletop and aligned the plastic directly over it on top of the glass. Next, I cut out the properly sized covering (this is easy compared to the sunburst pattern), and began to lay down the white stripes first (dark should cover light if at all possible). I cut the white stripes a bit larger than the pattern called for in order to establish ¼” overlap between colors. This can be seen in picture2. I had to spray a little windex onto the glass to get the Ultracote to stick down. Once down, I squeegee’d out as much windex as possible and wiped dry.

Two notes here – 1) I am using Monocote for the black color as I have a ton of it. 2) Windex does not react with the Ultracote backing like it does Monokote.

Once all the white pieces are down, I added the black pieces in the same fashion as the white (pictures3 and 4). At this point the only thing holding these pieces together is the adhesion caused by the liquid underneath. Using a trim iron I ironed down the seams permanently attaching the black and white stripes into a sheet (picture5). Afterwards, I carefully removed the entire sheet from the glass and was ready to cover.

The rest is standard covering 101, so I didn’t snap any pictures.

I got the entire Top wing’s bottom covered (picture6) and am ready to move onto the sunburst. A neat, unplanned by-product was the “scrap” produced during the covering process will cover the ailerons perfectly! No need to re-join pieces of Black/White to cover the aileron strip. Yeah proper planning would have guaranteed that, but this time I got lucky. ;)

Based on my experience joining the covering on glass over the plans, I’d say I am sold on the technique!

Picture1 – Plan prepped and ready for tracing
Picture2 – White stripes getting laid down onto glass surface. Note the plastic template over the top of the covering to ensure proper placement.
Picture3 – Black stripes going down onto the glass surface
Picture4 – Completed assembly, before hitting it with the trim iron
Picture5 – Completed sheet removed from the glass and draped onto wing half – this is cool
Picture6 – Completed bottom of Top wing
Picture7 - Wing traced onto plastic sheeting. Black and White stripes are marked on the plastic and will be used to align covering pieces. There’s a paper towel under the plastic so you can see the markings.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Alex - yeah, I was a bit worried about the filler getting into the holes. I was a little more stingy with the filler near the bolt holes and nothing oozed into them. I ended up waiting 20 minutes or so before popping off the wing. I used 30 minute epoxy and I spent about 5 minutes mixing in all the Micro Balloons, so it was getting close to curing.

The pants and headrest are the stock plastic pieces.

-MA

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

MA,
How much over lap do you have at your seams ?
Are the seams aligned with the ribs or do some of them cross open spans ?
It looks real good so far.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

I was fearful of this so I went overboard. The overlapped seams are 1/4". The seams are not aligned with ribs. I read about this technique in Faye Stilley's Covering Techniques book.

-MA

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Hey MA,

Why does Stilley not use the ribs? I've seen his book "on the shelf" and understand that this guy puts beautiful planes together as demonstrated by his wins in Toledo. I get that perimeter covering results in a more pleasing, glass-like result as compared to grain-exposed jobs where the covering is heated to the ribs. I also think that limiting schemes to the structure of the plane is, well, limiting. So enquiring minds need to know what Stilley's thinkin' :D

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

What I think it boils down to is you don't always have ribs or a "solid surface" over which to lay down a seam. This will be much more evident when I post the pics of the top side wing ;).

Stilley's comment in the book is NOT to seal the coating onto the wood structure (only at the edges), so none of his covering jobs are sealed except for the egdes (this is how I cover too). If you happen to have (or ever see) the Top Flight Monokote video you know that they advise sealing the covering onto all surfaces. I believe this is somewhat like the Ford/Chevy, JR/Futaba debate ... to each his own. :D

So from my perspective, the Stilley book is saying "be creative with your covering jobs, there's no reason to constrain designs to the sheeting or rib structure of the subject". Is that what you're after SeamusG? I might have missed the point of your question...

Heck, here's a preview of the top side of the wing...

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

I don't think 1/4" is to much overlap, heck the way I cover 1/2" overlap is not enough to keep from pulling apart :)

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

MA - that's what I was looking for.

I haven't done a multi-color panel yet. My "initial cover" skill isn't up to speed yet - I spend too much time shrinking with the old heat gun. I think that with all of the seams it's more critical to get the initial lay-down of the covering pretty close with minimal waves.

I'm current re-covering a Sky Raider Mk II that I intend to use as a novice pylon racer - practice, practice, practice ...

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

When you create a panel that will be used for both the wing and aileron, how do you make sure that the aileron graphics line up with the wing's? The bottom seem's pretty straight forward (pun unintended :) but the top looks like it presents a bit more of a challenge.

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

You're right, the bottom is easy - and I purposely made extra so when I trimmed the bottom there'd be enough "left-over" for the ailerons. The tops - well I will do those my hand at the very end. I'll just measure and cut using the finished wing as a guide. I'll snap some picks when I do this.

-MA

RE: Sig Hog Bipe
 

Well the top half of the wing is not going to be as easy as those simple black and white stripes. I am determined to make this work. Hopefully this thread helps someone out – either to convince them NOT to do it this way or encourage them to try something new. I suppose either way, it’s a win for the reader. [8D]

Using the same technique as the bottom half, I traced the wing outline onto thin plastic (picture1). I then marked out the sunburst pattern onto the plastic. Next, I figured out the pieces that needed extra to account for overlap and I marked these spots on the template. Using those spots as a guide, I took my finger drill and drilled a hole in each spot so I could mark the covering with a dry erase marker. If you look real close at picture1 you can see the holes (look right in the middle of the TE of the Aileron and you can see 2). I then smoothed out the holes on the underside to prevent scratching the covering.

Next, I took the covering and rolled it out on my bench. Using the template, I transferred the spots onto the covering and used them as end-points for my cuts. Darn simple. For this particular pattern, I was left with 4 total pieces (2 white and 2 orange). I began piecing them together like I did with the black and white stripes, using windex to affix them to the glass top. Pictures 2 and 3 show the “splicing” process. Once I was satisfied with the fit I used the trim iron to join the pieces giving me a sheet (picture4).

It was all downhill from there – Covering 101 techniques gave me a finished upper wing half (Picture5).

For the right wing, all I had to do was flip over the template and do the whole thing over again. Picture6 shows both wing halves covered. For those wondering, it took me about 20 minutes to cut out the covering using this process. Then it took an additional hour to splice together the pieces into a sheet and apply that sheet to the wing. I don’t know if people feel that’s a huge amount of time … I’m pleased with the results so <shrug>. [&:]

Before quitting for the day, I had to apply the trim. Check out pictures 7 and 8. I was surprised at what a difference the black trim made. I almost can’t believe how good this looks. Believe me, the camera lies! I am happy with the covering, but it ain’t gonna win me any contests. :eek:

So the good news is the top wing is done … the bad news, I get to do it all over again with the bottom wing. This is where building really takes its toll on me; I'm off to get a beverage :D.


Picture1 – Wing outline and markings traced onto plastic
Picture2 – Splicing process 1st 2 pieces
Picture3 – All 4 pieces on the glass waiting the trim iron
Picture4 – The final “sheet” waiting for traditional covering techniques
Picture5 – Left top done
Picture6 – Top wing done … almost
Picture7 – Trim applied to right half – wow, that makes a big difference!
Picture8 – The colors seem to “pop” with that trim applied. I’m really glad I went with the Orange/White combo.