1208 days from the first bolt to getting my airworthiness certificate today… I am legal to fly






For those that don’t know, it is a Bearhawk Companion, O-360 Angle Valve 200HP with a GA Sensenich 82” STOL Prop

Nice looking ship!

Well done

Beautiful! Great job keeping the momentum up. Time to enjoy it.

What a herculean accomplishment. Congratulations. You are an inspiration.

Looks great! Congratulations and enjoy flying it!

Well deserved CONGRATULATIONS !

Wow, looks fabulous. Well done that’s a huge achievement. Now go have some fun!

Very cool, looks like a great bird.

This is making me itchy for that moose project I keep thinking about....

Fantastic Jay! Well done. How about some interior and panel pictures?

Kurt

Here ya go Kurt

Wow Jay, fantastic!

Kurt

That is nice!

I know better than to start a project like this...... I would be one of those people selling a pile of parts in a few years since my attention would have darted off in another direction. Maybe if I hired an A&P full time to assist me and made it a full time job..... just dreaming.

I do admire those who can pull it off.

Tell us about that switch labeled "camera".

And out of those 1208 days, how much time was spent working on it? Nights and weekends? Full time 40 hours a week? Did you have a helper?

kg wrote:That is nice!

I know better than to start a project like this...... I would be one of those people selling a pile of parts in a few years since my attention would have darted off in another direction. Maybe if I hired an A&P full time to assist me and made it a full time job..... just dreaming.

I do admire those who can pull it off.

Tell us about that switch labeled "camera".

And out of those 1208 days, how much time was spent working on it? Nights and weekends? Full time 40 hours a week? Did you have a helper?

Thanks kg

The Camera rocker switch powers cameras on the struts. The former owner of FlightFlix sells a “box” that is wired to my panel/plane power and is activated by the switch. As anyone who has run a GoPro style camera knows they always die at the wrong time. This allows me to bypass batteries and always have power to record.

I work primarily overseas, well did until this year as I now work about 1/2 the time in Florida, so I was typically home about 27 weeks a year and when I am home I do not work at all, so this allowed me to concentrate on the plane. So basically I was home 604 days, of those 604 days I failed to work on the plane less than 15 days. I HAD to make a promise to my wife that I would ski with her every morning (well 5 days a week), so that took some time away. But I would typically get 3-5 hours work in on ski days. In reality I gave up 3 years of my life to build the plane… But with that said I made the best friends of my life through the build process at my local airport which happens to only be 3 miles from my house.

As for help, I was extremely lucky!!!! I built the fuselage and wings in a friends (Bill)hanger, he has built two planes, a Rocket and a Carbon Cub, so he had tons of knowledge and gave me a lot of direction but did not really participate in hands on helping. Bill also had every tool needed for the build. Once the wings were on my plane no longer fit is his hanger as hi CC top up the majority of the space. At that point I moved it to friends (Jay)hanger, Jay also had every tool needed. Having the correct tools at my disposal was truly amazing! At this point I did get some hands on help. Jay is an amazing builder, he built a Kitfox that won the top Bronze Lindy at last years AirVenture. He really helped with my windshield fairing, and the installation of the fairing. He also was hands on in installing my door windows, his ability to “seal” the windows in the skins was amazing (very dirty two man job). Like Bill, Jay gave me plenty of pointers on how to do things correctly. Basically I could not have done it without their vast knowledge!

Building a Bearhawk is not for the faint of heart, there is a lot of fabricating unlike some other kits. When I chose the BH I knew it was a tough build but in my opinion it had the absolute best envelope cruising in the mid 130 mph range and stalling in the upper 30’s. I also needed a side by side seating plane hence the Companion model as my wife would never sit in the back seat and she likes to fly with me. That being said, the new owner of BH is making the build A LOT EASIER!

Congrats Jay. I read about your completion over on Bearhawk page. My Patrol is coming along a bit slower but progressing nearly every day. They are a lot of work. Mike

skyward II wrote:Congrats Jay. I read about your completion over on Bearhawk page. My Patrol is coming along a bit slower but progressing nearly every day. They are a lot of work. Mike

Thanks Mike, good luck with your build, looking forward to flying in The Frank together

I'm very impressed!!!!!

Utah-Jay wrote:

skyward II wrote:Congrats Jay. I read about your completion over on Bearhawk page. My Patrol is coming along a bit slower but progressing nearly every day. They are a lot of work. Mike

Thanks Mike, good luck with your build, looking forward to flying in The Frank together

Unless a person has taken on a Bearhawk build prior to the most resent conditions in which the current information and build assist programs exist, you have no idea what one has to deal with in minor delays gathering information. It was a truly plans build aircraft even in quick build form. It certainly makes a better mechanic for it but it’s not for builders looking for a connect-the-dots build. I don’t think I would be able to pull it off without the support of the Bearhawk Builders site.

Here’s a mod I think you would appreciate. Upper left corner. 8’-4” rod holders. Super light weight. In process.

Love the rod holders skyward II

I do have a storage area long enough for golf clubs and skis, to fly rods fit no problem.