Source: 2012 Q3 Beartracks, Mark Phillips
Few things are better than a summer day in Minnesota when the temperature is about 80 and there are just a few clouds in the sky. You add a beautiful Bearhawk and you have a perfect day. As a scratch builder of Bearhawk plans #1228 you can imagine how excited I am to see other projects and see how other people are making these crafted pieces fit together. When you get the chance to look at a completed aircraft you jump at that opportunity and take a look. I’m sure everybody that is building an airplane has looked to see how many of that type are in the area where they live. I found out about a flying Bearhawk about 100 miles from my house so I started to do some research. It wasn’t really all that hard, I knew the owners name, Curt Malecha, and looked him up and left a message. The next day he called back and we started making plans on when we could meet to get some pictures taken.
We set up a date about a week in the future and hoped the weather would cooperate with our plans. The day before our planned day a quick look at the forecasts showed that things looked good. Scattered clouds and light wind all spelled good news. I shoot out of a C172K, only the left side window opens so I asked Chuck Schmidt to fly while I would be shooting. I called Curt and Chuck to tell them we were good to go the following morning. Mother Nature was not going to let me off that easy. I woke to fog outside and 1/4sm visibilities, but a quick check on the computer of forecasts and currents made me feel at ease as I was pretty sure this fog was going to lift early. I feel confident in my ability to read into the forecasts and in my knowledge of weather. On the way out to the airport a quick call to Laurie at the Princeton FSS confirmed what I suspected. A very nice, hour long flight and we were there.
As I taxied up to the ramp in Fergus Falls there it was sitting all alone on the ramp. The sun was shining on the airplane and with no one around; I couldn’t pull up and shut down quick enough. We agreed to meet in the FBO, but I could not resist, I had to go over and take a look at the first Bearhawk (that I know of) I have seen. Curt came out to greet us. He understood that I had to take a look. We went inside the FBO and started to go over a time line for what we wanted to get done. Curt told us that some of the local pilots got together on Fridays and made lunch. Today they were doing pork chops on the grill and baked potatoes, and we were welcome for lunch. This day just kept getting better and better.
Curt taxied the Bearhawk out onto the grass (where it is at home) so I could start to get some photos; he then went to tend to the chops. The Fergus Falls municipal airport has great facilities and the two runways were in great shape, and all the taxiways and ramps were in tip top condition as well. Over lunch I learned of two other homebuilts finished last year based at the field, a Kitfox owned by Lawrence Deal and a RV10 by Jay Wik.
Quick Build kit #19 arrived at Curt’s business, a rental store, in 2003 and there the project began. With Bearhawk plans #672 it should be easy right? Not so fast. As happens, life took over and Curt and his wife Lisa built a new house, sold his business, and started another business, the FBO. During this time they also adopted 11 children to bring the total to 13. The aircraft’s registration N132CL was chosen for that because God gave 13 kids to (2) Curt and Lisa.
Curt calls it a slow build kit. It was a total of 2500 hours building and another 2500 hours of research to get everything completed. After eight and a half years of anticipating and dreaming, on December 28, 2011 in the morning Curt had an airworthiness certificate in his hand. After a lunch, Curt could not wait any longer and conducted the first flight by 1:00.
The first flight went very well, 1.1 hours near the home airport FFM. The reason Curt chose the Bearhawk was because he wanted a capable float plane, after the first flight he knew he made a great decision. Each test flight was recorded in an aircraft test log book noting and recording EGT, CHT, RPM, MP, fuel flow, altitude and outside air temperature. The only issues were door leaks and a yaw. A rudder trim tab fixed the yaw. The other problem was fixed with different seals. All forty hours were flown with no other issues.
The plane was made to eventually be on floats and by the end of summer may never see wheels again. With this in mind, aux fuel tanks for long range fishing trips, and float attach fittings were installed. The custom sea plane doors were designed to be simple and easy to latch with lots of visibility. The doors are hinged at the top so a person could easily get out and walk forward on the float when approaching docks. The biggest obstacle in making the door was the strut. Shortening the door and raising the door jamb fixed that problem. After installing a gas lift strut the doors were perfect. EDO 2870 floats are getting redone as this is being written.
The aircraft is powered by a Lycoming O-540 producing 235 hp. A McCauley 8452 fixed pitch prop was installed and the verdict is still out if that was a good decision. It runs smoother than most 540s because of a LSE plasma II ignition and tuned SS exhaust. An ACS 2002 EMS was a good choice and they have been a great company to work with. A dual battery system works well for remote fishing.
Several years ago Curt was at Oshkosh looking at avionics. He found what he thought would be the perfect setup. He bought a Blue Mountain EFIS, who would have known we would see such advancement in avionics. He admits he may have bought a little prematurely. Custom leather rounds out the interior.
The exterior was done with Stewart Systems paint on the fabric and urethane on the metal parts. The paint and color scheme were picked by Curt’s daughter Genevieve. Because of her talent, everybody can appreciate how great it looks, and how well the colors look together. He said it was fantastic to have her help in the building process and lots of fun.
After lunch the plan was for a quick twenty-thirty minute flight to get about 300 air to air pictures. This was going to be simple, right? Everything worked great until Curt peeled off to do a 360 degree turn to get some banking shots. Who would think that a two toned brown and green C172 would be hard to see over forests and marshland. After 10 minutes of calling off landmarks to each other we got back in formation. We flew back towards the airport while I took more pictures. There was just enough time left in the day for one more quick flight. I was thrilled to get a chance to fly the plane, it flew as well as it looked.
The airplane would not look or perform as well as it does without the help of Kevin Cary. Kevin was instrumental in so many ways that without his help and knowledge there is no way that this Bearhawk would be flying let alone looking like a complete aircraft. Friends Craig Johnson and Lawrence Deal were always willing to help and provide wisdom and free advice. This was the first airplane project Curt built. It is said that it takes 10 houses before you build the perfect one. This may not apply to aircraft because there are few things Curt would do differently. Overall he is more than pleased with the almost perfect Bearhawk.