Source: 2016 Q4 Beartracks
Congratulations to Bruce McElhoe, of Reedley, California on completing his blue Bearhawk LSA. His empty weight came to 821 pounds with a C90, lithium battery for starting only, and Catto prop. He built from a quick-build kit from Bearhawk Aircraft over a period of three and a half years.
The red and white Bearhawk LSA belongs to Bob Way of Alabama. His has an O-200 with a three-blade prop, full electrical system, and MGL avionics.
LSA Builder Introduction: Sam Scott, Elkin, NC
Source: 2016 Q4 Beartracks
Sam writes: I placed an order for plans in February 2016 and received plans # L-147 shortly thereafter. I spent the next few months studying the plans and reorganizing my workshop to faciliate the build. In August 2016, I started making the form-blocks for the wing and aileron ribs, finishing them within a couple of weekends. I then received a call from the manager of the local airport, asking if I would like to start an aircraft maintenance shop at his airport in Elkin, NC. I jumped at the opportunity and began to settle into my new career as a full-time entrepreneur, putting the LSA project on a short hiatus. I placed my first order for materials on November 5, 2016 and I hope to start building steadily from this point onward. Below is a picture of myself with the completed form blocks for the wing and aileron ribs.
Invitation to Bob’s Fly-in on October 15, 2016
Bob and EAA chapter 646 invite you to their annual fall fly-in at Barrows airport, VA04. Bob will provide the main course for lunch, and requests that guests bring a side dish as they are able. Come early on Friday night if you would like. Bob’s big house is available for folks who want to bring a sleeping bag and camp indoors. If you let him know you’ll be coming, he’ll know how many to expect.
Come see the prototypes for all three Bearhawk designs, and hopefully a few other examples too. Save on shipping or Bearhawk parts that Bob sells, and maybe even a new Bearhawk hat.
Drive in via the beautiful Virginia countryside or test your flying mettle on the snugly situated backcountry runway. If you will be flying in, VA04 is at 37˚29.50N and 79˚ 55.70W, and Unicom is 122.8. If you can find it without using a GPS, you may consider yourself to a worthy navigator.
Driving directions to 2079 Breckinridge Mill Rd, Fincastle VA are as follows: From I-81 take exit 150B, US-220N towards Daleville/Fincastle. Turn right onto US-220N, Roanoke Rd. Proceed north for 9 miles to Fincastle. Once in Fincastle, turn left onto Hernden St, which turns quickly into Grove Hill Rd. Take Grove hill for about 1.5 miles. Go over the bridge then turn left immediately onto Breckinridge Mill Rd. Continue for about two miles, then look left for the small “EAA” sign on a dirt road driveway that leads into the woods. If you reach camp Fincastle, then you’ve missed the driveway. The driveway is long and includes a low water bridge. As you come upon the row of hangars, find a place to park without blocking the road. That is the same road that leads to the house, for those coming in on Friday. The large hangar is the shop, which is where lunch is served. If you need help with directions, please call Bob at 540-473-3661. Across town at Roanoke, there will be a 75th Anniversary celebration, including WW2 aircraft. Continue reading
Summer Bearhawk Pictures 2016
Source: 2016 Q3 Beartracks
Jared and Tabitha Yates stopped at Brodhead Wisconsin for the EAA Chapter 431 Fly-in the weekend before Oshkosh. Carrying enough to camp for four for a week, plus a folding wagon, plus full fuel, the gross weight was still only 2300 pounds.
The Brodhead fly-in is a slow-paced event that seems to draw some of the most interesting planes, some on their way to Oshkosh. Bob is a regular and it’s a great place to get to spend lots of time talking with him. This year he brought his Bearhawk Patrol prototype with companion Diana.
Note to little Bearhawk campers: tiedown ropes make great swings when left a little long.
Phil Johnson flew his Bearhawk 4-Place to Oshkosh from Missouri (below), and long-time readers will be surprised to hear that he’s made some significant chang-es. He removed his Lycoming 360 and installed a 540. While he was at it, he also recovered the fuselage. With fresh paint it looks like a new airplane.
Bob Triplett’s 4-Place was on display in the Bearhawk Aircraft booth, as was Mark Goldberg’s Bearhawk LSA and Bob Barrows’ Patrol. Mark’s other two planes were available for demo flights.
Joe Lisanke’s Bearhawk Completes the DAR Inspection
Source: 2016 Q1 Beartracks, Joe Lisanke
The project began in 2000 with plans, form block, and some ribs purchased from another builder. It’s a standard build with a few finish items and fairings added for fun and education. The wings were built from plans with the assistance of my neighbor Buzz, who is also a pilot. The fuselage and controls were provided by Avipro (now Bearhawk Aircraft). They did a wonderful job on those parts. The fuselage is very straight and the welds strong. I was very pleased with all the components purchased from them.
The cast door and window handles are still available from B&B Aircraft Supplies. The fairings are all made from laying up fiberglass over a structure of cardboard, plaster cloth, modeling clay, and masking tape. They are one time only use molds, simple and cheap to make. I found some cast metal inside door handles at a fly-in parts vendor that have a VW logo on them. They may have originally been for any early model bug. Those were attached to the front and baggage door frames and pull the release pin when operated.
The panel is a mixture of steam gauges and MGL Extreme 3-1/8” small units that back each other up. The K type thermocouple color coding is counter intuitive: red=negative, yellow=positive. The radios are older King nav coms. Those can still be found online at attractive prices from people who are upgrading their panels to newer Garmin types. You even see some parts radios for sale as low as $100-$200. One circuit board or display could cost over $1000 from an avionics repair facility.
I adapted an ’86 vintage GM DIS ignition unit from the junk yard in place of one of the mags. The older units come in 4 and 6 cylinder configurations, and the only difference is the number of coils, 2 or 3. (http://www.megamanual.com/ms2/GM_DIS.htm). Units self-time for basic timing by receiving pulses from a trigger wheel and pickup coil, 60 degree spacing, with an additional notch at 10 degrees ATDC#1. From that, the electronics knows TDC #1 cylinder and fires coils in the firing order. Waste spark fires two plugs at a time, but the cylinder under compression consumes the most power. Megasquirt (http://megasquirt.info) has documents and finished timing units for those interested in full timing advance curve and EFI. The units are fully programmable. The factory GM ECM and additional sensors could also be incorporated into a design, but that tends to get rather complex to build and maintain. I plan to replace the other mag with the new E-Mag 6 cylinder unit that’s coming out soon.
I used Stewart Systems process for covering and am overall pleased with it. The fabric glue is amazingly strong and allows a glued seam anywhere. The two big issues were with osmotic blistering and delamination of primer coats, both of which were caused by surface contamination. The system demands very clean working conditions and scrupulous cleaning between coats. I used Polyfiber on a previous plane and it was much more forgiving of both of these issues. If you are working in a dusty, drafty area like my hangar, then Stewart probably isn’t the best choice. Plusses for Stewart: fabric attachment, glue products, tapes and supplies. Plusses for Polyfiber: paint layers chemically bond together easily.
Thanks to Ray Howell, the DAR who did the application and inspection. He is wonderful to work with, and a terrific inspector with 28 years of experimental and LSA experience. Thanks to Bob for such a great design!
Building a Patrol Fuselage Using a Tubing Kit from Bearhawk Aircraft
Source: 2015 Q4 Beartracks, David Edgemon
During Oshkosh this year I was wandering through the Bearhawk booth when Mark Goldberg suggested that he had “just what you need.” I’m mostly scratch building a Patrol but have purchased a few parts from Mark. When he told me that he had a Patrol pre-fit tubing kit that was available, it took all of 10 seconds to accept. I’m sure glad I did.
The tubing kit is a collection of about 150 tubes that have been precut, bent, fish-mouthed, and fitted into Mark’s steel fuselage jig. That’s about 300 fish-mouthed joints that are already complete! It’s a huge time saver. All of the tubes are labeled with numbers and either “left”, “right”, or “center” tags. These are referenced to a pair of drawings of the fuselage frame. These two drawings along with Bob’s plans provide all of the detail that’s really needed for assembly.
The factory guys paint all of their tubing with some cheap paint in order to color code the wall thickness. This helps prevent errors with picking the wrong size tube. You can see in the photos that I have removed the paint and scale from the joint areas prior to tacking the tubes. This allows a nice clean metal joint to weld.
When scratch building the fuselage conventionally, we build a jig and fit each tube to the jig. Well, with the tubing kit it is essentially reversed. The tubes have already been in the jig, so the challenge is to put them back together square and plumb.
I started by laying out the ceiling frame on a flat table. This piece is almost completely flat with just a little joggle in the forward area. The longerons are pre-bent to shape and by fitting the pieces together from back to front, we easily are able to assemble the ceiling frame. I used layout lines on the table for reference and to keep things square, but the tubes pretty much dictate the placement.
The lower fuse frame is a bit more complicated since we have a 2 substantial bends in the longerons. The lower longerons are pre-bent and the scarf joints are made for the tubing size changes.
At this point I started building supports to hold the lower frame at the correct angles and positions. You can probably see plumb bobs in the various pictures. These were principally used to keep the bottom and top frames aligned to the long center line on the table. Once the basic placement was established I let the upright and diagonal tubes dictate the final assembly of the structure.
A simple set of wooden uprights were screwed to the table in order to position the top of the fuselage over the bottom assembly. The cross braces were set to heights roughly measured from the plans, but during assembly some adjustment was made to allow the uprights to fit correctly. Remember we’re fitting the jig to the tubing not the other way around.
During all of this process the fit of the tubing was excellent. I was worried that as I worked my way forward towards the more complex portions of the fuselage that I might start suffering from tolerance buildup. Fortunately this was minimal. I had very few tubes that needed a small touch up. That was probably due to fitting the aft sections more tightly than needed.
One thing that became apparent during the assembly is the HUGE number of clamps that were necessary to hold things in position before tacking. Some of the most useful clamps were these “EAA” welding clamps. They are cheap to make and very versatile for holding multiple tubes while getting ready to tack. I used 4 of them plus a lot of the common spring clamps.
The forward fuselage and firewall area is definitely the most challenging, with more complex clusters. The 5 firewall tubes were numbered but were not found on the plan sheets. A little study and it became obvious which tubes were which. This is the only error or omission that I found in the drawings.
All in all I was very pleased. The fuse took about 4-5 weeks of very part time work (mostly weekends) to lay out and tack. This is much faster than I would have achieved from plans only. The only thing left is to weld in the engine mount support tubes and I’ll be ready to mount the fuse to a rotisserie and start final welding
2001 Builder Updates
Source: 2001 Beartracks
The photo to the right was sent in by Jack Piggott #374. He completed his wings in October and was astounded that they were straight and twist free! He thinks that it was a miracle but Bob and I think it was good old fashion hard work.
Hi Bob and Mike, Lots of adventures since the last writing, including radiation treatment, operations, travels, 75th birthday, installing two trail bridges in the Idaho back country, and at last, very near completion of both wings. Photo enclosed (see cover – M). The right wing comes out of the jig tonight, then final installation of (completed) fuel tanks. I am making the tank caps to your pattern, which avoids another hole in the wing.
Next week (or so) I will bend up .032 channels and start on the tail feathers. Hopefully, this will go a little faster since I am more familiar with the medium.
I have to apologize to those builders who have been trying to make contact with me by phone. My shop (friend’s shop, actually) is up the street and I don’t leave my machine on all the time. If any builders want to get in touch with me please leave a voice message before 9 am or after 6 p.m. I am having to get involved with an office in our local EAA Chapter 430 to pay back a little of the time and support from them. Paul Messinger, my Tech Counselor, has given generously of his time and advice for which I am truly grateful.
We are now looking for an 0-540 w/logs, preferably a mid-time take-out at a reasonable price. Failing that, I will go for a run-out which I will overhaul under IA supervision.
During a 10 day visit to Alaska, I got in 2 hours 172 time and 2 hours in a Citabria. I also collected some freebie parts: C-175 Struts, seats, gyro compass and an artificial horizon. Paul picked up a Bearhawk hat at Sun N Fun last year which I proudly wear to EAA meetings. Best regards to you both.
Jack Piggott – #347 – Sequim, WA
Jack, Great to hear from you and congratulations on finishing such a large component of the construction process. The photos were great keep them coming. Good luck on the engine search. – Mike
Below are a few photos by Bill Johnson of Bearhawk #023 getting its exhaust system fitted. Bill’s website has many photos of his project. His web address is: http://home.fuse.net/wjohnson/
Hi Guys
N156RM was inspected by the FAA on May 3 and flown the first time on May 4. After several take off and landings the BH out performs my 150hp Citabria, the controls are more responsive. This plane flys fantastic, it’s STOL all right. The only problem, a bad tailwheel, got to get rid of the Maule and replace it with either a Scott or a Bob Wheel. My first flight was over an hour, had to quit because of shortage of fuel on hand. Got to get my fuel barrel filled. Its hard to keep from flying it, FANTASTIC!
Bob Marek 019 – Cadott WI
CONGRATULATIONS Bob! Your Bearhawk is indeed the First to Fly! Bob and I are looking forward to seeing it in person soon! See page 7 for Bob’s Weight and Balance information and a short report about its construction and page 6 for more photos. Below are a few photos of Wil Grafts #365 – It should be in the air soon too!
Bob & Mike, Another year has passed and I’m still plugging away, I only get an hour and a half each evening and a few hours on the weekends to work on my project, but one piece at a time. All the wing ribs have been done for quite some time, everything for both wings is made except for the steel parts.
I did finally decide to remake the aileron and flap ribs because the lightning holes closest to the spars were too close to the angle aluminum stiffener. The angle would “ride up” on the lightning hole flange. Just a 1/4″ off but I decided to remake them. Both ailerons are now all clecoed together and are waiting for me to bend the trailing edges and form the nose skins. Everything is cut out and ready – I’m just waiting until I cross paths with the man that owns the 8′ brake. In the meantime I’ve gotten all the pieces for the flaps cut out and just have to clean them up. At this point I have just under 600 hours in the project. Slow but I’m happy. I read the online Bearhawk digest every morning, they are really helpful, some a little off the deep end, but a good bunch of guys. One of these years I’ll make it to your cook out. Fly Safe.
Sonny Cilley – #234 Royalton, VT
Sonny, thanks for the update, Bob and I like to hear back from builders about build times at various stages of construction. It is important to DO SOMETHING EVERYDAY with your project if you want to finish it, you sound like you have a good time program worked out.
Bob & Mike, Thanks for sending the 2000 back issues, and I’ve included a check for the ’01 subscription. Art Womack of Kenai, AK and I are working on our Bearhawk; some of it is in Alaska and some of it is here in Texas – all the parts will meet one day! Art’s mailing address is PO Box 7475, Nikiski, AK 99635. He is working on the fuselage and I on the wings.
Mike, are there any websites with some builders that I may visit?
Bob, Why did you choose the Lycoming 0-540 rather than the Continental 0-470? Parts? Cost?
Kevin Lammers – #059 Montgomery, TX
kklammers@aol.com
Kevin, Thanks for the renewal. That is quite a system to build a Bearhawk – just be sure that you both have matching tape measures! There are several builders websites – I’ve put your e-mail address up so that they can contact you directly. Bob picked the 0-540 because that is what we work with most. We have a good supply of parts and build 10 – 15 Lycomings a year. The 0-470 is an excellent engine for a Bearhawk and we hope to see one in flying this year in Wil Graft’s project. ~Mike
Bob & Mike, Progress on Serial Number 479 continues. All nose ribs and main ribs are complete. Work is now focused on the wing’s steel components. My father and I are enjoying the time together. We would like to thank you for sharing this wonderful project with the rest of the flying community.
Dennis (the son) & Stan (the dad) O’Connor #479 – Fort Collins, CO
Dan Montee #414 sent in the license plate below. Seems that he has been doing some extended taxiing in his “Bear Hwk.” Bob and I like the fact that it is a TRUCK plate.
A Few Builder Photos
A couple more photos of Bob Marek’s Bearhawk. He does not have a radio installed – just using a hand held right now.
It is a little difficult to make out in the photo but it looks like he installed toe brakes on the left side only.
Doesn’t look like he strayed very far from the drawings. He built his doors just like Bob did on the Prototype and the 260. He did add a hand hold near the rear horizontal stabilizer strut – A good idea.
The C.G. Information on page 7 shows that he flew his first flight at 20.6% right about where you want to be during the initial flight testing program. I’m sure that we will have more information and photos in the next newsletter – Mike
Above are a couple of photos of George Jensen’s Bearhawk #026. The fuselage is upside-down in the first photo. George has finished his wings and is moving right along on the fuselage.
Pictured to the right is a photo of Pat Fagan and the current status of #232.
Bob, I’m in the process of fabricating my aileron bellcrank. Could you explain the dimensions and installation of the bearing and needed spacer tube, etc. I have not been able to locate 3/4 X .083 tubing. Is .065 wall enough or should .095 wall be used?
Tim Anderson – #398 – Brooks AFB, TX
Tim, The spacer tube is to insure that the bearing is not crushed when the AN4 bolt is made tight. The .095 wall thickness tubing should be used. It is necessary to machine it down to the. 083 to fit the bearing. ~Bob
Hi fellow Bearhawkers,
Just to clear up the confusion #434 is a joint effort between Richard and myself and now that we have another one flying I am no longer inspired but down right jealous, congratulations.
As for the African Bearhawk I am a member of EAA 322 in Johannesburg South Africa and had advertised some aluminum plate for sale, when I was contacted by a young chap in a small mining town about 60 miles from me.
When I asked him what he needed the aluminum for I almost fell off my chair when he said to complete an instrument panel in his Bearhawk. Well, at this point I volunteered to deliver the aluminum to him, Richard and I went down to the town of Fochville in the Free state and low and behold here is a Bearhawk.
I took some pictures but as you can see space is a problem, the pictures were taken in Feb 2001 and the wings were also complete at that time, we have not made contact since but will make an effort to visit him again
Wayne Estment- #434 – South Hills, SOUTH AFRICA
The above photos are of Waa Van Zelm’s #368 in Fochville, South Africa. Thanks for the photos Wayne.
We received late word as this issue was going to press that Merv Hargraves #362 in Queensland, Australia has completed his Bearhawk. We hope to have some photos and information from Merv for the next issue of Bear-Tracks. Good work Merv! Below are a couple of photos from a few Bearhawk Kits being manufactured in Mexico. Visit www.bearhawkaircraft.com if you would like to see more.
From the e-Group:
Charlie Volgesong (Dillsburg 4130 Tubing supplier) really runs a tight ship. My tubing was delivered yesterday, a week after it was ordered. ABF motor freight brought it out and the driver helped me drag it 100 feet from the street to the garage.
There is about a days worth of work left before the second wing goes into storage, then on to the fuselage for a while. I used Bob’s method of Loctite 609 for aligning and securing the rod ends in the flap and aileron mounts. It really works well. With the first wing I was a little sloppy with the Loctite and found it will strip Stits Epoxy if runs are not promptly wiped up. I was careful to lightly coat the rod ends and insert them on the second wing and had no problems.
When I started on #303 1 decided against keeping a log of work hours. I have done so on every project before and reasoned this is just for fun. After seeing actual times and estimates I decided to keep a record on the second wing assembly. All jigs and tooling had been built during the assembly of the first wing. All parts except the skins were complete when the assembly and timekeeping started. This morning I am at 272 hours with 6 to 8 hours to complete and store.
Bill Cox – #303 – Baytown, TX
Thanks for the comments Bill – keep us updated as to your progress – Mike
Wil Graff’s First Flight Report
Source: 2001 Beartracks
Another Bearhawk is in the air! Wil Graft’s #365 flew on July 6th. Below is a photo and a brief description of the process.
#365 is flying. FAA inspection and first flight was on July 6th. With the O-470 and a constant speed prop, it climbs like a rocket. I have to fly off another 22 hrs., plan on flying to OSHKOSH. There are gear and strut fairings to finish. I’m still on cloud nine. Lots of questions and not much time to answer. I’ll list a few of the specs this time and try to cover more next time. I used a C/182 O-470-R engine and mount (not from my 182, it was sold and now in AK). The mount was cut down to fit and reinforced at the main tube clusters. The engine is under 500 lbs. Wt of ship 1392 with battery 15 in. aft of baggage bulkhead. No electric hookup or starter yet. Exhaust system made by Aircraft Exhaust in Jumping Branch, WV. Here’s one photo. Wil.
Bob Marek’s Bearhawk N156RM
Source: 2001 Beartracks, By Bob Marek #019
I became interested in the Bearhawk after reading an article in the October 1995 issue of Sport Aviation. I soon ordered a set of plans and received set #019. I put in an order to Airparts for the aluminum and an order to Dillsburg for the steel tubing and sheet. I took about two years of building to complete the wings.
In the summer of 1997 I retired from dairy farming. I built a new house and a hangar and was able to get back to work on the Bearhawk fuselage. Bob Barrows told me of the availability of a low time Lycoming 0-360 with a prop and a starter. I purchased the engine and replaced the starter with a light weight Skytec and also added a Nipon Denso 55 amp alternator. I located the battery under the front left seat.
After completing welding up the fuselage during the summer of 2000 we attached the wings and tail feathers and ran all of the cables to the control surfaces.
With much help from my better half Jeanie and a friend from Chapter 509 that is also building a Bearhawk we were able to get the covering and painting done before the weather got too cold last fall. Poly Fiber system was used to cover, with Aerothane on the metal and Polytone paint on the fabric. On final assembly N156RM weighed in at 1192 lbs with electrics and no back seat. I hope to get FAA inspection and the first flight this spring.
Weight and Balance for N156RM
| Sample | Weight | Arm | Moment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Left Main | 553.5 | -3.25 | -1798.9 |
| Right Main | 545.5 | -3.25 | -1772.9 |
| Tail | 93 | 199 | +18507.0 |
| Front Seat | 200 | 14 | +2800.0 |
| Fuel 20 gal | 120 | 24 | +2880.0 |
| Total | 1512 | 20615.0 |
C.G. = 20615.0/1512 = 13.63
% Chord = 13.63/66 X 100 = 20.6%
Wil Graff Builder Update 2001
Source: 2001 Beartracks, Wil Graff
After repainting my Skylane, building a Pietenpol Aircamper, and restoring a Piper Pacer, I was ready for another project. Which one of the numerous airplane types should I pick. There are 451 plans builds, 382 kit planes, and modern or antique restorations to pick from. It has to be with conventional gear, large engine, high wing, and four place as part of its design. The reason for wanting a plane like this, was the fact that some of these desirable features were in my Pacer. If the Pacer was a little bigger, faster, and more comfortable, I would have kept it. Maybe the comfort and performance of the Skylane has spoiled me.
One kit under consideration was the Cyclone (Cessna 180 clone). It’s very good in design and quality. The total cost at completion would be as much as a certified C/180. Next was the Bushmaster. It looked like an overgrown Pacer with big tires. Then I started looking for a Cessna 180 or 185 to restore. They are hard to find at the right price or too costly to restore.
I heard that Kevin Kieth and Wayne Campbell were building a Bearhawk. What kind of airplane is that? So I went to see Kevin’s project in his garage. I looked at the finished wing ribs and the complete set of construction drawings. The drawings revealed an all metal high wing with a tube and fabric fuselage. A four place with a 150-260 hp engine option. It was a bush plane and now I started to get interested in it.
While at John’s Landing near Zanesville for there Fall antique fly-in, I saw the Bearhawk. Bob Barrows, the designer and owner wasn’t there and I couldn’t wait around for him. After looking it over and taking many photos, I decided to go see it at Fincastle, VA. Pete Aragon and I flew to Bob’s 2000′ strip in the hills near Roanoke in my Skylane. We checked out the second Bearhawk being built, his engine shop and hangars. All my questions were answered to my satisfaction and then I committed myself by purchasing the plans and newsletters.
The work started in early November 1998. Metal forming and riveting tools were acquired and a master maple forming block was made. The ribs were started in December and finished the next spring. Both wings including the fuel tanks had the last rivets set in January 2000. Now I am finishing the painting on the fabric for the fuselage. The boot cowl, engine mount, interior, and the windshield are completed. Most of the items to be fabricated are the firewall forward. I’m planning on the first flight by mid 2001.
