Source: 2015 Q3 Beartracks, Larry Sullivan
Kit number 98 arrived from Texas in November 2007 and we set up shop in the hangar at HXF in Hartford WI. My building partner Tom Brown, was a pilot for Midwest Airlines out of Milwaukee and he had identified the Bearhawk as a plane worthy of our investment of time and money. He has a hanger at HXF where he kept his father’s Cessna 421 and it was and ideal location. (60’ x 60’ with heat and a toilet). Little did I know the marathon I was beginning.
Neither Tom nor I had any building experience although I had worked on some cars and motorcycles and built a couple of houses and furniture for my kids. The first year was one of sporadic progress on the tailwheel, struts, floorboards, and tail feathers. Nothing requiring fabrication. By the end of 2008 the crash had occurred and Tom had been laid off by Midwest Airlines resulting in major life reassessment. We both had kids in elementary and High School and little progress was made.
Even in that first year, despite very little progress, I began to get the sense of the constant focus the project demanded. How it pulled at me every free moment and when falling asleep at night. From one small task to the next, each requiring a phone call, time on the web, or just visualization of how things go together, it was always on my mind.

Unfortunately life got in the way. My kids were finishing high school and I was on call most of the time. Tom got a sales job that took him away for most of the week. The project sat there for three years without any attention. I even put together a flier to sell the brand new Lycoming 390 engine we had purchased in late 2008. Then I acquired a partner and my call responsibilities were reduced. I had told so many people that I was building an airplane and I had had the dream in my head for so many years, I just didn’t want to give it up. I asked around the Hartford airport to see if there was anyone who might be willing to help me get started in earnest and guide me.
Fortunately, I met Marc Stamsta, a skilled craftsman who builds vintage wood airplane wings and spars for a living (www.maxaero.net) and he was willing to help me get the project going. I bought Tom’s share of the project and proceeded solo!
Marc met with me each Thursday and we tackled the wings first. I learned to squeeze and buck rivets and shape fuel and pitot lines. Despite having purchased the Wicks “hardware kit”, few of the bolts seemed to be the proper length and turnbuckles were not quite right half the time. This was one of the most frustrating aspects of the build. I had to hunt for the correct piece of hardware or thimble or cable. The “1,100 hour estimated build time” was quickly whizzing by.
Hanging the wings met with near disaster when the drill bit became jammed at the root when drilling the hole to final size. Fortunately we were able to free it without damage. As with each part of the kit, we were impressed with the precision and quality of the kit. Everything seemed to fit together well.
It was on to the fuselage and I took on the fuel lines first. I made a slight modification in the route, and Bob indicated he saw no problem. Instead of bringing the rear line all the way forward of the doorframe, I routed the forward line back to meet the rear line below the door about even with the front of the seats. This allowed me to put the selector valve more aft next to the flap handle, the gascolator is aft of that and is more easily accessible behind the left landing gear.
I chose to use a new fuel-injected Lycoming IO-390 EXP engine with 210 HP, and a Hartzell 80” constant speed prop. The hope was that it would provide an excellent balance of power and weight. I saved 100 pounds over the 540 and gained 30 HP over the 360. For the build itself, I’m thankful I went with the four cylinder as it provided a huge space between the engine and the firewall to fit things and route lines and cables. As a novice builder I think it would have been much more difficult with the 540. The one major disadvantage is that the #1 and #2 cylinder intake manifolds did not fit into the cowling, requiring modifications. Thus, the blisters on my cowl. I found some old Travel Air valve covers that worked very well. In retrospect, I probably would go with a standard 360 for simplicity.
I used a baffle kit purchased from Glasair, for use on their Sportsman model with the 390. Since my throttle body is horizontally mounted in front of the sump, the baffle kit goes down under the throttle body so that the entire area behind the nose bowl is pressurized. I have no alternate air or cowl flaps. My exit opening is less than the standard and although I put a lip on the opening, I’ve been trimming it back because even in 80 degree humid weather here in Wisconsin, my oil temps been 180-200 and CHT have been 325-350 max.
I used Vetterman’s crossover exhausts. Clint provided excellent sup-port, was easily available by phone and made some modifications at no charge until it was right. I needed to add their 4” extensions to direct the exhaust further down as it was really fouling my struts and underbelly without them. I have been told by others at HXF that the plane has a very distinctive (bad-ass!) sound.
For the panel I chose the Dynon Skyview 10” monitor with their transponder, ADSB, engine monitoring system, GPS, heated pitot with AOA, and backup-battery. I took a seminar put on by Dynon at EAA prior to installing the system. I’m learning as I go and have had excellent support. Everything has worked as advertised. Rather than individual fuses for my electrical system I chose the Composite Designs Radio Stack power panel, which included the Master and Alt switches, Radio/Nav/Strobe/Fuel Pump/Landing Light switches and 14 breakers. It made the wiring so much easier and Wayne went above and beyond to give me some overall wiring advice. I used the ICom IC-A210 radio, and PS Engineering PM-1000 II four-channel intercom.
I enjoyed the wiring aspect of the build. I’m proud that I had only two issues, easily fixed with entire electrical system, despite completing it without any interim testing. The D-pins in the ADHRS connector cable were loose and had to be pushed in, and with the transponder and ADSB, I connected the TX to TX rather than TX to RX and had to reverse them.
N460K is covered with the Polyfiber system. I also used it for my seat frame supports. I painted it in a paint booth at Tom’s hanger (where I was building) that he had used for a work-related project and allowed me to build out to fit the Bearhawk. I had hoped to have my three children participate in the build with me but you can lead a horse to water… My daughter Caroline did help by welding together two rotisseries for mounting the wings and fuselage for painting and covering. They worked beautifully. I could wheel the fuselage and wings into the booth and easily rotate them as needed.
I used PPG Aerospace Desothane topcoat and Desoprime epoxy primer. The EAP-12 Desogel non-chromate adhesion promoter was very easy to work with. Rather than using the toxic Alodine products, this just sprayed on with a spray bottle and then was dabbed with a cloth to cover the entire bare metal surface and was allowed to dry. No rinsing needed. The painting was laborious and since it was not perfect, frustrating. I learned as I went which isn’t the best plan when it’s the finished product! At one point there was a thin streak on the wing and I finally realized there was a strip of plastic still on the bare metal that I had not detected when scrubbing and prepping. I was able to fix it without any visible defect. The paint seems very tough and worked well on both the aluminum and fabric. I used the polyfiber silver UV-protector as the primer for the topcoat on the fabric.
My plane came in at 1387 pounds, achieving my goal of less than 1400. I can carry 400# in the front seats, 300# in the back seats, 165# of cargo and 50 gallons of fuel and still be at 22.5” aft CG.
N460K’s first flight was on May 16, by Tom Hegy, an experienced crop duster at HXF. No problems initially. I flew it a few days later and on my first landing the engine stalled as I was flaring. I had trouble re-starting and when it did start, the #4 cylinder was not firing. After about 10 hours of troubleshooting we determined that the flow divider was faulty. Precision Airmotive exchanged it for a new one and it has run smoothly since. I had taken transition training with Jared in February, which was critical for my confidence. Still I was anxious particularly about the ground handling and landing on pavement. Under the recent circulated FAA AC 90-116 (Additional Pilot Pro-gram for Phase I Flight Test) I was able to have several local instructors fly with me for the first 10 hours. By then I was getting comfortable and have put an additional 50 hours in so far. Going to Oshkosh and having N460K displayed at the Bearhawk Booth was a thrill and an honor.
With regard to performance, I’m cruising at about 125 mph at 21” MP, 2300 RPM, consuming 8.5 gph. It seems the top cruising TAS is about 140 mph at 24 squared but at only 2500 ft MSL. I haven’t really taken it up higher and pushed it. I did take it to my 40th high school reunion in South Bend Indiana last month, taking the route under the O’Hare airspace along the Chicago Skyline over Lake Michigan, which was a thrill, especially since my wife came with me! I’m enjoying the process of learning the Dynon’s capabilities and with only a little over 100 hours of total flight time I have a lot to learn as a pilot. I look forward to the next 10 years with N460K.