Makin’ Beartracks- 2 Degrees

This article is available for purchasers of 2007 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2007 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.

Builder-Made Alternative Tail Wires

Source: 2007 Q2 Beartracks, Bob Barrows
The tail wires & wire ends shown are as used on Bearhawk Proto I & II and Patrol. These wires have worked well for over 1600 combined hours of flight with only some repainting needed. Bob

This article is available for purchasers of 2007 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2007 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.

Pirep – Trip to Sun-n-Fun 2007

Source: 2007 Q2 Beartracks, Kevin Deutscher
My interest in this trip was to see the Bearhawk operate in a real world environment and use that information to assist in selecting components and configuring my Bearhawk. There are a zillion compromises made in a project like this and we all hope to make correct choices and have something to be proud of when complete. The other purpose is to obtain some real performance data.

This article is available for purchasers of 2007 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2007 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.

Making Beartracks ‘Reality Check’

Source: 2007 Q2 Beartracks, Pat Fagan
The Mojave Desert is a place dear to my heart where I have had the most incredible adventures and made many wonderful memories. Unfortunately, it has now taken on a new meaning for me. This is where my dreams ended.

This article is available for purchasers of 2007 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2007 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.

Noodling Bearhawk Weight and Balance, Part 2

Source: 2007 Q1 Beartracks, Rob Gaddy. Click here for Noodling Bearhawk Weight and Balance, Part 1
Before we begin, I made an error in Part I of this article. In Figure 3 the weight on the main gear should be 1,196 pounds, not the 1,271 pounds shown. The 1,196 pounds is just the measured weight on the main tires, the 600 pounds for the right gear plus the 596 pounds for the left gear. Since we were summing the moments around the main gear, the error did not affect the calculation.

This article is available for purchasers of 2007 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2007 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.

Angel Point

Source: 2007 Q1 Beartracks, Pat Fagan
Angel PointStars, stars, stars, and more st…, well, you get the picture. Angel Point is a star gazers paradise, but more about that later. Angel Point is located in the Canyonlands region of SE Utah. The coordinates are

This article is available for purchasers of 2007 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2007 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.

Noodling Bearhawk Weight and Balance, Part 1

Source: 2006 Q4 Beartracks, Rob Gaddy. Part 2 is in 2007 Q1.
What do I need to know about Bearhawk Weight and Balance? If you are still reading I will assume you have an interest in the subject also, so come along for the mental trip and we will see if we learn anything.
Let’s start with the basics; here is our Bearhawk, figure 1. Let’s assume we have finished it but haven’t flown it yet. It has all equipment installed and engine oil, but not fuel. I want to know two things, first what does it weigh, and second where does it balance, hence Weight and Balance or W&B. To answer these questions let’s put some trustworthy scales under each tire to find what the weight is on that particular tire. Let’s level the fuselage, it is important later. We will use the W&B for N33RB as given in the October 1999 Bear Tracks, page 6 for an example.

This article is available for purchasers of 2006 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2006 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.

Wing Root Vents

Source: 2006 Beartracks, David Bice
I put Cessna vents in the leading edges because Bob says they work fine. In case anyone else want to use these, I thought you might want to know the original Cessna vent has to be modified. It is an easy modification and only requires

This article is available for purchasers of 2006 Beartracks access. Click here to purchase access or validate your prior 2006 subscription. Multi-year bundles are available here.