Nick Holmes-Mackie

Yes please!

Yes please! Cheers

Yes please!

Yes, please!

Yes, please!  Nick

Yes, please!

Yes please!

Yes, please!

Yes please!

Well, I'm getting into the build now - it's a bit slow, as I only get a couple of hours a week to spend on the Hog.  I've mostly built the wings now, and am thinking about the controls.... I think I said before that I was planning to put aileron servos out in the wings - it keeps the control run very short and seems (to me) more straightforward.   And then I wondered why people don't drive the control surfaces directly from the servos?  It wouldn't be easy to do at this stage, but it seems sort of sensible. But more seriously - I've been thinking about the hinges and design for the ailerons themselves.  I've provided for barn door ailerons.  It seems that modern practise seems to be to hinge at the top edge, using mylar hinges, but I like the look of the original, which is more complex, having the ailerons hinged from the ends, with the centre of the hinge at the centre of the aileron andwith a rounded front edge to the control surface so that it rotates in a more 'scale' way (hope this makes sense). The original even says it uses ball-race bearings! Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way?  It seems perhaps like overkill, but on the other hand, ought to provide a very durable solutions. Whilst I'm at it, it looks to me as though it would be sort of sensible to have a lclosed-loop rudder control.  It's easy to implement, provides more positive control and so on.  And (apart from swapping servos) why not put the servo close to the control surface? Nick

Okay Evan - thanks for that.  I'll take your advice...  Now all I have to do is get on with it.  Any more questions would just be delaying things!  One thing - the comment about lots of epoxy.  Do you mean that I should add fillets of epoxy to prevent oil penetration of the wood/fuselage?  Or a thin coating on the firewall - or what? Thanks,  Nick

Thanks again for the helpful comments.  I've actually bought, at a very reasonable price, the SIG kit to use as a basis (it's much, much cheaper than buying the wood at my local model shop!).  I'd like to retain as much of the original design as is sensible, and I have in mind the advice in the first thread that I read that said "not the SIG version"!  So - what's the difference?  I already know that the tail-dragger is the right thing to build.  Should I include the original 'barn door' style ailerons (the kit has strip ailerons), for example?  Any advice would be gratefully received!  Nick

Aha! There I was, just browsing through... I've almost exactly the same profile as Mike C5 (strange surname, though I say it as shouldn't..) I've just built (if that's the word for something so astonishingly simple) a Zagi to learn with and was wondering where to go to fly it. I was inspired by a visit to Westbury (I live close-ish) and I also figured that the Futaba kit looked good for the job and so bought that as well. I understand (from my local model shop) that winds at the White Horse are almost always wrong..... (and I can only fly weekends) - so learning about whitesheet sounds great. As for small receivers - we don't know how lucky we are! I just got hold of a copy of an old plan from 1958 - they had receivers (non-proportional) with glass valve technology. They did gliders back then as well......

Aha - thanks, Allan. I'm not sure whether I need that one - I've two already - one from the Berkeley kit and another from the original American magazine article from 1958... Is it worth looking at the Plans Service as well? (and where are they? Are they on the web? Could you post the URL?) As for the engine (thanks for the comment, Evan) - I think I'll delay the decisoijn for a while, and research using a tuned pipe with a 2-stroke, as I understand that they are pretty effective at lowering noise levels. I guess a 4-stroke makes a lower pitched noise though, which is easier on the ear, even if not quieter. But I've plenty of time - there's a lot of building ahead. And I can't start until after the weekend (can't get to a decent modelling shop until then!) And then there'll be the colour scheme to decide. I do really like the red and white scheme that is in all the pictures, but I'm looking for something a bit different and yet still appropriate for the vintage. Late 50's - what was going on ther? Warhol? Bewitched (or was that 60's?), Elvis? Flash Gordon? Thanks for the info - I do appreciate it! Nick

Thanks Evan, that's really useful. And I feel pleased that it looks like I've made a good decision! Reading what's available on the Web about the Astro Hog, it sounds like everyone who's had one feels a great affection for it - always a good sign, I think. Am I odd, or does everyone have a whole list of models they'd like to build? I already know what I want to build after the Hog - a scale Chipmunk.. Did some lessons on one in my early days. I know it's very popular - there's a reason for that, I suspect..... When I was last modelling, there were very few 4-stroke engines around - and they were all pretty large. If a 4-stroke is much less noisy that a 2-stroke, I'd like to consider that for the Hog - any suggestions? Or, given that 2-stroked are so very much cheaper, should I be content with that?