Texas pilot David Godwin confesses he’s a “Hiperbipe nut.”
Based at Coulter Field (KCFD), a few miles north of College Station, Texas, Godwin has owned three, so far.
The airplane celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. In 1973, Sorrell Aviation of Tenino, Washington, introduced the Sorrell SNS-7 Hiperbipe, an interesting two-seat taildragger biplane with negative stagger that was sold as a kit.
Since 2015, Thunderbird Aviation has handled sales of the kit plane.
So far, about 100 of the kits have been sold, but only about 40 have been completed and are flying today.
One of those is Godwin’s.
“I love these airplanes,” he says.
Godwin got his start in aviation in 1966 when he took his first flying lesson in an Aeronca Champ.
It was about 10 years later, in 1975, when he first saw the Hiperbipe and fell in love.
“My first homebuilt was the granddad of the Hiperbipe,” he recalls. “It was a little single place biplane I bought known as the Sorrell SNS-2 Biggie Rat. It was far from attractive, but it was a great flyer.”
A few years later, he started hearing about the SNS-7 Hiperbipe and how great of an aerobatic plane it was.
“But I thought there was no way it could be that special,” he says. “In 1979 I went to an air show in Merced, California, and saw it perform. It flew along with a Pitts Special and Christian Eagle and it was a show stopper.”
According to officials with Thunderbird Aviation, the SNS-7 Hiperbipe is the “fire-breathing big brother version of the SNS-8 and the SNS-9. It was designed as a fully aerobatic machine, but also has the capability of carrying a pilot and a passenger cross-country in relative comfort.”
As soon as Godwin returned home from that air show, he sent a check for $10,000 to Sorrell Aircraft and ordered the kit.
“During the Christmas holidays, I drove from Sacramento to Tenino, Washington, and picked up my kit,” he recalls.
First flight of N74SR was in March 1985.
He owned it for 15 years before selling it.
But he did keep tabs on N74SR, and discovered it was in an accident a few years ago, damaging the landing gear and one of its wings.
Meanwhile, Godwin bought a second Hiperbipe, this time registered as N776HB, which he enjoyed flying from 1999 to 2009.
A couple of years later, he went on his third “adventure” as a Hiperbipe owner, buying N3717 as a project.
“The plane first flew in late 1999,” he says. “The builder had just completed the first 45 hours of flight and was killed in an accident. The plane then sat for about 11 years. The second owner got to fly it twice and had major engine problems, so it was disassembled and stored until I bought it.”
It took him more than three years to restore the airplane.
“It was necessary to have a major rebuild and a rebuilt engine,” he says, noting the plane is now powered by a Lycoming HIO-360 engine.
The years of dedication to make N3717 airworthy were well worth it, according to Godwin.
He flies the airplane at least six times a month, strictly for fun. It’s also a frequent visitor to fly-ins and air shows across Texas. Godwin also has flown N3717 several times to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
“It is fun to fly,” he says, adding that it is a “competent taildragger pilot’s airplane.”
“It’s not really hard to get used to,” he says, noting it “lands about like a Piper Pacer.”
What’s next for Godwin and the Hiperbipe?
He confesses the future looks a lot like the past.
“Don’t tell my wife, but N74SR is in the back of my hangar being recovered,” he concludes with a smile.
For more information: ThunderbirdAviationmi.com