Source: 2026 Q3 Beartracks

Sentimental Journey Fly-In
Mike Meador, Bob’s friend and successor in the R&B engine building business, travelled to the Sentimental Journey fly-in in early June. This event is at the “birthplace of the Piper Cub”, William T. Piper Memorial Airport (KLHV) in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Virginia-based pilot and instructor Mike Brown flew Bob’s Patrol to the event, and repeat-builder Tim Weaver was on hand with his blue and white Bearhawk LSA. The event included some spectacular drone shows and activities, and Tim’s airplane made it into the local news coverage.

First Flights
Congratulations to Walter Bolan on the first flight of his Bearhawk 4-Place, N789CB, in Oregon. His empty weight came to 1487 with a 540 and Oratex covering.

Carlo Cilliers completed his scratch-built Bearhawk Patrol N37BP in Maryland. Todd Stock reported on the forum:
Build ran September 2023 (plans in hand) to 31 May 2026. Mods included:
– Wet wing
– Overhead flap actuation (elimination of cables, etc.)
– Electric servo-in-horizontal-stab elevator trim
– Ventral fin added to counter yaw hunting seen on another Patrol
– Two piece clamshell cowl with plenum
– Heavily modified seat design
Test pilot reported well behaved airplane with light roll forces, in-the-groove yaw performance, and solid pitch authority through stall series. Comfortably moderate flap deployment and retraction forces and both clean and flap stalls were drama-free with no tendency to depart or other adverse behavior. CHT were higher than desired, but that reflects the baffle system and cowl sealing still being refined. And that was about it. Strut fairings and a bunch of other minor stuff (including final cowl paint and some work elsewhere to level/buff) to go, but it looks like Carlo can make Oshkosh this year.

That’s Carlo in the middle, half way in the door.

You might have noticed that red is a popular color for 2026 completions, both in this issue and the last! Please send us your updates for the next Beartracks, even if your plane is not red!

Speaking of not red:
Scott Sarkinen flew his Patrol N431NS in Amboy, Washington.
Scott says: “First flight on Saturday May 9th 2026 with my Bearhawk Patrol, Lycoming 0360, Hartzell Trailblazer prop, plans build took 6 years and 2 months, little over 4,000 hours, weighed in at 1153 lbs.
Flew great except a slight heavy right wing.”