[scaleguy]

Originally Posted by JohnA

Here is my 38% Hiperbipe. 105" span, DLE111. But I must admit that I only like negative stagger biplanes.

John,

NICE!

That your own design?

What is the wieght?

Do you have plans available and where did you get a cowl from?

Any more pictures of the plane?

[JohnA]

Originally Posted by scaleguy

John,
That your own design?
What is the wieght?
Do you have plans available and where did you get a cowl from?
Any more pictures of the plane?

Yes, it is scratch built from my plans.

It is a heavy 48 lbs but it flies surprising light with a wing loading of 31.8 oz/sqft. It drops the ailerons as flaps (25deg) like the full scale but they do not add much drag, only lift, which causes it to float too much on landing. It is great at knife edge. Easy to do KE while circling up. I will have it at Kingston next year. I did not have enough flights on it this year to be flying it at an unfamiliar field.

The cowl is fibreglass over a foam mold. The engine is mounted on the plane with a plywood disk behind the spinner plate. Large foam blocks are glued in place and then carved and sanded into shape. Then putty and more sanding. The mold is then covered with glass overlapping the fuse. Then the glass is puttied and more sanding. The air inlets are cut opened and the foam removed through the openings. When enough foam is out, the cowl will slide off.
I am not making the plans available since the aft fuse should be redesigned like a modern laser plywood kit to reduce build time and the whole fuse needs to be lightened. With the lost foam method for cowl construction, I do not have a mold to easily make more cowls.
The design is a stand-off scale. There were many changes from scale to make it easier to build. The tail is flat without the scale ribs or taper. The wing tips are square. The cowl to windshield join is simplified. The landing gear is flat plate. The wings are not fully sheeted. The hinging is not scale and the elevator is divided into four parts to simplify the tail removal. The flying wires have been eliminated for easier assembly. The nose is two inches too long to help with CG and the wing chord is increased by one inch to improve wing loading.. With the current design it takes too long time to build. I have 580 hours in the build and 170 in the design.

[scaleguy]

John,

Thanks for sharing the details of your project and the Pictures.

I look forward to seeing it at Kingston next year, if i go. If I do and I still have mine around maybe a Formation Flight can be arranged.

Regards,