Source: 2011 Q4 Beartracks, Curt MalechaHere is a quick story of my Bearhawk Building Journey. The building process of my Bearhawk began about nine years ago. I live in Minnesota and float planes have been a big part of my flying. The search for me began by looking for that perfect all-around bush plane. It had to be capable of hauling fisherman (me, my friends and my family) and our gear into the remote areas of northern Minnesota and Canada. My needs were very simple. Four seats, a large baggage area and to be able to install floats. A friend of mine showed me a brochure and a couple magazine articles about the Bearhawk, and after a few phone calls to Budd and Mark my quick build kit was on its way.
I had visions of flying my Bearhawk in two years, certainly three years at the very most. I had never built a plane before and was excited to get started. I inventoried the parts and started building and dreaming. A person near my home airport had a used Lycoming O-540 with a fixed-pitch prop for sale, so that was purchased. Nothing can replace cubic inches when it comes to float flying! It is a low compression engine which can run on auto fuel. That is great, because some of the remote areas that we enjoy going to in Canada don’t always have 100LL available. I added dual Light Speed Engineering electronic ignition and Vetterman’s tuned exhaust.
The aircraft fabric was finished with Stewart Finishing System. I was doing this in the back shop of my business and didn’t want the smell often associated with other aircraft finishing products. It was easy to apply the fabric using this system but the paint required a different technique. It was different than any other paint that I was used to. It did turn out great though. You will notice the doors have been changed from the stock factory doors. I re-designed a one piece plexiglass door that flips up clearing the wing strut. When docking while on floats it is often important to get to the front of the float quickly to catch the airplane before hitting the dock. These doors will allow me to do that without maneuvering around a door. I have gotten softer in those nine years of building so I added high density seat foam and a interior finished in leather. I have been building for eight years, five months, and twenty-five days. Now to be fair, I have probably spent about 2200 hours building my Bearhawk. My wife and I have been very busy in the past ten years, so I was unable to give this project my full attention. We have sold a business, started two more businesses, built a new home and adopted eleven children, all while building my dream airplane. Finally, on December 28, 2011, the DAR gave me his OK. As I write this I have thirteen hours logged. The Bearhawk has been everything I had hoped. The performance is unbelievable!! Stalls are straight ahead with no surprises. Control inputs are very positive. And it lands like a marshmallow, especially with those BIG flaps. I’m convinced more than ever this will be a great float plane. I have recently bought a set of Edo 2870 floats. We have started prepping them for installation. I can’t wait to give it the ultimate test this spring. That is, will it help us catch anymore fish? Thanks for a GREAT airplane!