One of the "All-Time-Great" R/C models goes electric; for geared cobalt 40 motors Many years ago, my very first Jow-wing aileron model was the Astro Hog by Fred Dunn. As a neophyte on the sticks, it didn' last too long. We regressed to the Smog Hog and had better luck. I was most fortunate to own the leading reed system at the time, Orbit was its name. One needed to have fast thumbs bumping the control switches. I finally got in a few good flights after some instruction, and then installed the equipment into the Astro Hog. The learning process was long and tiresome. Finally, swallowing my pride, asked for help and instructions again. A beginner should not be embarrassed to seek help in his club. Nearly all clubs nowadays have appointed a competent flight instructor. ‘A few years ago, I was doing some hangar flying with a friend, Dr. Dan Williams DMD, and I brought up the need for a set of plans for the Astro Hog. Dan went to his pile of plans and, ‘wouldn't you know, he came up with a tattered much-used set of plans. From that time until the present, they lay in my pile of plans. I got the urge to build ‘one for a cobalt 40 geared motor. The original had a wing span of 72” which is too large for the 40 to do justice to the plane. So, after some deliberation, it was decided to make the span 63". A few changes were made to update the craft, but the stab position was retained and the profile of the Hog duplicated. I've seen the modernized one with the stab raised to the datum line, but this, ‘one is scale to the plans, except itis solid balsa and flat plane in construction. A 1/4" dowel was used for the leading edge of the wing since I believe it is the strongest and lightest method around. ‘CONSTRUCTION My personal preference is to, first of all, make a kit of parts before starting to build. This is the time the builder ‘must carefully choose his building ‘materials to prevent the weight ofthe craft from building up. Light wood for nonstress areas, and strong, hard for stress areas. You may notice that the ‘wing has four spars. Spruce was used forthe front spars and balsa for the rear — just my personal preference, not some magical reason. Wing: ‘The wing usually takes the most ‘time and since I'm the builder and prefer to get it out of the way, that's where we start. The wing is pretty straightforward, the only unusual feature the hold-down to the fuselage using two 1/4" dowels in WIB and the 1/4" dowel leading edge. Fashioning the ‘wing rib leading edge is done with a 1/4" dia saw file. A few strokes with the file and it's done. The leading edge dowel will slide into place with absolutely no problem. I hope you will like this method of building the wing. The wingtips are a bit unusual, but they are 62-172 inches WING CHORD 10-1/2 Inches TOTAL WING AREA 656 Sq. In. WING LOCATION ‘Low Wing AIRFOIL, Semi-Symmetrical WING PLANFORM ‘Constant Chord DIHEDRAL, EACH TIP 3/4 Inches ‘OVERALL FUSELAGE LENGTH 42-172 Inches. RADIO COMPARTMENT SIZE (11x 0W) 3-5/8" x (H)2-1/2" STABILIZER SPAN 23-1/2 inches STABILIZER CHORD (inc. elev) 6-3/4 Inches (Ava) STABILIZER AREA 160 Sq. In. ‘STAB AIRFOIL SECTION Flat ‘STABILIZER LOCATION Lower Fuselage VERTICAL FIN HEIGHT 7-114 Inches: VERTICAL FIN WIDTH (inc. rud.) Giinches (Avg.) REC. MOTOR SIZE ‘Astro Fight 40 Geared Cobalt BATTERY PACK SIZE 21 calls N1700 SCR ‘MOTOR CONTROL Flightec SC2 ELEVATOR THROWS V2" Up ~ 1/2" Down AILERON THROWS, 1/2" Up = 1/2" Down RUDDER THROWS. 1-1/2" t02" Left — 1-1/2" to2" Right strong and very functional. The landing gear block is made from 1/4" and 1/8" ite ply with a 1/32" spacer to make the side rails to match the 5/32" diameter landing gear. The landing gear is bent to the outline on the plans. The wheel axles toed inward about 2°. This aids the plane in the take-off mode. RCM June 1998 8)Everyone has his own way to wire the two aileron servos in the wing. The diagram shown on the plans has ‘worked for me fora long time. It aids in the maintenance of the servos. Try it; ‘you might agree. ‘The 1/32" ply doublers on W2 and W3 really beef up the landing gear. IF ‘you have saved some of the sawdust or the sanding dust, you can use it to fill in around the openings which will inevitably occur between the landing gear block and the wing rib. I would imagine it would be possible to use 1/64" plywood, but this has not been tried to date. The 1/32" ply doublers have been my standard of building for the past five years. I haven't had a structural failure as of this writing ‘The servo mounts in the wing are shown in detail "S" on the plans. They are simple and effective. The servos used are the mini-metal geared Hitec units Install the servos flat, as shown, onthe plans. ‘To mount the small aileron horns on the ailerons, you must install a piece of 1/4" lite ply as per the plans. Again, if ‘you have saved some sawdust, you can lightly reinforce the ply. Stab, Elevators, Fin, and Rudder: ‘The four items mentioned are built from 1/4" medium balsa sheet. You will have to splice a piece to the stab to get the proper width, Do the splicing to the front edge to save a bit of balsa sheet. ABOVE: Left wing assembled. Homemade cable installed ready {for Deans connector. Aileron completed. RIGHT: Left tip of the wing. Note the 3/16" balsa trailing edge for the aileron. See text. Completed aileron shown upside down. Note the 1/4" lite ply insert for control horn attachment with sheet ‘metal screws. The rest of the components are just cut out; nothing special here, just follow the plans. This design uses a split elevator. The construction details are shown on the plans. Fuselage: The fuselage sides are made from 3/32" medium balsa sheet. The doubler, from the nose to the front edge of F9, is 1/32" plywood. My method of gluing the doubler to the side pieces is to thin Elmers Carpenters Wood Glue, which is an aliphatic resin, and paint both the doubler and the balsa sides. Allow the glue to get tacky and then join the two parts. Clamp and let dry overnight, Do the same to the stab doubler of 1/64” plywood. When the sides are dry, start putting the formers onto one side starting with F9 then F3. You do remember there is aright and left- hhanded side? Join the left and right sides to the formers installed, At this point, mount the wing to the partially built fuselage and drill through F3, WBI, and WB2, If you wait until later, ‘you will have a problem. Drilling can ‘be made easier if you use a 1/4" x 12" rill it to accomplish this task. When the holes are drilled, temporarily put the 1/4" dowels into the wing as per plans. Next, add F2 and the firewall. After the glue sets, start adding the formers F10 through F14, When this is completed, cut some 3/16" balsa sheet to fitbetween formers F13 and F14 top and bottom of the fuselage. These anchor the fin and fin fairing and the stab. Install the stringers from F910 FILS. ‘Now you can start to build the battery hatch, Cut two pieces of 1/8” lite ply as per the plans to form the crutch for the battery hatch. Clamp them to the fuselage sides with clothespins. Be sure to put some plastic ‘wrap or wax paper between the crutch rails and the fuselage sides. I's an awful mess to separate the two, once the CA wicks them together. Next, add LEFT: Bottom view of wing. ABOVE: Wing halves joined together with one landing gear block installed. Holes for wing hold-down dowels drilled and the dowels temporarily installed. Favorite ‘sanding blocks shown here.LEFT: Aft end of the fuselage showing the 3/16" sheet balsa insert. This is needed to glue the stab to the fuselage. A piece of 3/16" balsa sheet is also used on the top of the fuselage between the two sides for a base for the fin. RIGHT: Bottom of the fuselage showing ‘the battery support BS-1, BS-2, and the wing hold-down mounts. formers F4 through F8 and glue to the side rails. Next add the 1/8" x 1/4” balsa stringers. If you choose not to build a battery hatch, you will have to re-engineer the formers to omit the side rails. ‘When the battery hatch is completed, remove from fuselage and fill between the stringers with 1/16" balsa sheet as noted on the plans. This fill gives the covering a good hold. The stringers from F2 to the firewall are butt-joined. ‘Next, add the 1/2" light balsa sheet to the nose section. If 1/2" sheet is not available, laminate two pieces of 1/4” light balsa to get the desired thickness. Fashion the 1/4-20 bolt hold-down pieces and glue to each side at the position indicated on the plans. Two pieces of 1/4” lite ply were glued ‘together, sanded, and installed. Mount ‘the wing to the fuselage and drill the holes for the bolts through the wing and hold-down pieces. Remove the wing. and drill the wing holes to 1/4" diameter. Tap the wing hold-downs to 1/4-20. When tapped, treat with thin CA one or two times. After the CA has set up, run your tap through the hold- downs to chase the threads. Inspect and, iff necessary, repeat the process again. Chin Air Hateh: This item is used to augment the ‘cooling of the motor and the batteries. All direction for its construction is ‘outlined on the plans. Install the fin and fin fairing. Use soft balsa to fill in-between the fin and fuselage. It's best to preshape before installing the soft balsa blocks. Setting Up Your Plane: Setting up the wing, stab, and motor takes some time to get it just right. Your personal preference, as tothe incidence of the flying surfaces, will be accepted, but as for the way it was done, read on: 1. Mount the wing to the fuselage. 2. Using Robart’ incidence meter, set the wing at 0° 3, Line up the stab with the wing. Sand the stab mount until it’s just right. 4, Using the Robart meter set the stab at 0°, sanding as required. 5. Glue the stab in place while lining it up with the wing. 6. Fill in the bottom of the fuselage under the stab with 3/32" sheet balsa. ‘Sand as required. Add 1/2" triangle stock between the stab and fuselage. 7. With the wing and stab set to the desired incidence, the next step is to ‘glue the motor support onto the firewall. Make an assembly of the motor support and the under braces. Fit ‘up against the motor mount and, using a small level, find out how much itis out of line. Sand the rear of your assembly until you are at 0°. Epoxy the assembly inserts to give co to the firewall and add 1/2" triangle stock as supports under the motor mount. ‘Motor hold-down straps are simple ‘to make and, by referring to the plans, you will see that they are silver- Soldered together. Mounting the motor requires a"V" block of sorts to keep the ‘motor from rotating. Check the plans for construction notes, Use silicone caulk on the top and bottom of the "V" block to aid in holding the motor. {have ‘been using this method of motor ‘mounting for years. Bob Kopski started it off by using the inner NyRod as the hold-down, but now, with the larger motors, we use the silver-soldered. assembli Balancing your model is next and ‘we'll start with the wing. ‘No matter how well you build your ‘wing, one half will be heavier than the other. The secret isto locate the heavy side and remove weight where possible. ‘Next, balance your plane fore and aft with motor and batteries and radio installed. Again, we try to remove ‘weight rather than add weight. One can use hole saws to remove weight by cutting holes inthe stab, fin, or rudder should the plane turn out tail heavy. The other method is to move your airborne radio battery pack around. Ifyour plane ‘comes out nose heavy, there is no law that says your airborne radio battery LEFT: Fuselage with battery hatch removed. Note the 1/16 sheet ering @ good toe hold. ABOVE: Completed fuselage with mounting holes for the arming switch and motor battery charge plug. ROM June 1998 nLEFT: The second step to LEFT: Empennage installed. Fill between fin/fuselage and just aft of the battery hatch with 1/16% balsa sheet to give the headrest a ‘solid base. RIGHT: This isthe first stage of setting up the airplane. Use the tool at rear with the Robart incidence Meter and level to 0". {up Is the stab, Be sure it's parallel with the wing. Then, using a line level, zero the stab while ‘maintaining the wing at 0°. RIGHT: The third step is the motor mount. With the wing and stab at 0°, adjust the motor support to 0°. Epoxy and final adjust to 0" hhas to be in one specific place. Move it back to the tail, No one but you will know. The correct C.G. should be within the range noted on the plans, Flying: ‘Ifyou are new to electrics, ask for help fom your club instructor. The ‘model is built to fly, not to crash. Be sure your plane is properly set up — ailerons, elevator, and rudder all moving correctly with the sticks. Also be sure the motor works correctly with the stick ‘movement both at high and low speed. ick a mild day for your test flight. Plane at rest after aligning everything. Point the nose into the breeze and turn oon the motor. Ifset up properly, the Electro Hog requires litle or no correction on take-off: I would like to say that my edition of Electro Hog flew right off of the drawing board, but I ‘cannot. My original wing incidence was incorrect. I tried to use the original set- up, but that didn't work. That flight was a wild ride, Luckily, it made it to the ground in one piece. After resetting everything to 0°, [had a winner. ‘As we discussed before, the Electro Hog takes off with a minimum of correction, Landing is the same way. ‘You will find the Electro Hog a very ‘groovy plane, and aerobatics are a breeze. Realizing my own limitations as far as the pattem is concerned, a good pattern pilot could turn this Hog into a wild boar. It tracks nicely during loops and split S maneuvers. Stalls, spins, ‘wingovers, etc, are a pleasure to watch. Thope you enjoy your Electro Hog ‘as much as I do mine. Again, be very selective of your material. You can make or break a great flying plane by using light material where strong is needed, conversely strong where light is dictated little final note about the covering, the film used to cover the Electro Hog is called Oracover handled by Hobby Lobby. The first time [ used it was on my rendition of the bipe called "Der Jaeger.” In my estimation, Oracover is far superior to any other heat-shrink film covering now on the market. To geta top- notched job, all you have to do is follow the directions that come with the roll. My choice for the color scheme were red and white, Of course, your own preference is acceptable. Fly electric — enjoy. OM sune 1998,