Burro Schmidt’s Tunnel

Source: 2009 Q1 Beartracks, Pat and Carol Fagan 09q1fagan1 Think back to when you were a kid. Remember reading the Sunday funnies? Perhaps your comics included a weekly “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”. Mine did. If so, you may have read about Burro Schmidt, or as Ripley dubbed him, “The Human Mole”. Mister Schmidt spent 32 years digging a tunnel nearly ½ mile long through solid granite, using only hand tools and dynamite.

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Installing Clamar Floats on the Bearhawk

Bearhawk on FloatsSource: 2008 Q4 Beartracks, Al Robinson - Cold Lake, Alberta When I bought Tom Yeoman’s BH in April, I was well aware of the performance of these aircraft and was convinced that N416TY would make an excellent floatplane. By July I had collected enough money to prompt Claire Sceli of Clamar Floats to begin the fabrication of a set of 2500 straights. These floats meet the float capacity requirements for a gross weight of 2700 lbs. (2500 lbs. per float exceeds the 180% of gross weight float capacity required). By mid October I hauled my newly constructed floats to a father and son team living in Marwayne, Alberta. Charlie and Eddie Seville have scratch-built ten Bushmasters and have decades of experience installing floats.

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