Crzyivan13 wrote:I swiped this pic from the Bearhawk builders forum. It's a Patrol in Alaska on 35's. He goes by AKPatrol on the Bearhawk Forum.



AKPatrol, you out there? Im curious to hear your thoughts on the Catto fixed pitched performance.

WANT, WANT, WANT

Battson wrote:

Crzyivan13 wrote:I swiped this pic from the Bearhawk builders forum. It's a Patrol in Alaska on 35's. He goes by AKPatrol on the Bearhawk Forum.



AKPatrol, you out there? Im curious to hear your thoughts on the Catto fixed pitched performance.

WANT, WANT, WANT

I'm with you. I'd love to see more pictures of this one. What a great looking airplane!

Thanks for the gracious comments about my Patrol. This was my first airplane project and I completed it in my my garage over the course of about 20 months. It was a very enjoyable process. My goals were to complete a simple, lightweight, rugged, and economical airplane for exploring bush Alaska.

I have about 250 mostly off airport hours accumulated and feel that the published performance and specifications are very attainable. Mine is set up with an Barrows O-360 and a Catto 82 x 46 propeller. Since I prioritize economy over both blazing speed and peak takeoff performance, this pitch seems to be a good compromise. It enables me to take off from most any place I can land while allowing me a low altitude cruise of around 90 mph on 5.5 GPH loafing along at 2000 rpm's. I can, of course, fly faster if needed but the 35" bushwheels and lack of fairings limit cruise speeds on my airplane to around 115 mph at 2400 rpm's.

I'm very happy with it's STOL capabilities. It seems comparable to the cubs I work around.

Here are a couple more pics...

Thanks for those pics, especially that last one

And I did notice that your boot/sno shoe tracks were somehow hidden, most of my ski pics show mine

Looks great AKpatrol! Any regrets with not painting the wings?

Cool video and I caught the " I Know You Rider" in the background, do we have a closet flying Deadhead here?

First post and he puts up pics of a great airplane he built himself on 35's and skis in the Alaskan bush??? This guy's a plant! WHO ARE YOU REALLY???

Hehehe

That is a sweet looking patrol! Great pics! I'm curious if this plane can be flown with the door off? Or say a guy built a sliding rear window for photography, would it fly ok with it open?

Thanks for the pics! Great looking airplane. The Catto/35" AKB combo performance is about what I expected you would say.

I like all the glass around the cockpit. How did you do it? I also noticed on the Bearhawk forum that your empty weight was a little over 1000 lbs. What kind of instrumentation/equipment are you running?

Thanks again for posting the pics. Feel free to post more! Looks awesome. And welcome to BCP! Great bunch of people here. For the most part...[emoji6]

Crzyivan13 wrote:...Thanks again for posting the pics. Feel free to post more! Looks awesome. And welcome to BCP! Great bunch of people here. For the most part...[emoji6]

All right Evan, if you've got something to say to me, just go ahead and say it - you don't have to beat around the bush like this...

An older Patrol, spotted this morning, and I thought of this thread

Readers of a certain age will remember when a Patrol was a motor grader, like the hard to read sign on the front of it says!

AKpatrol wrote:I'm very happy with it's STOL capabilities. It seems comparable to the cubs I work around.

So you have to forgive a somewhat ignorant question - but without ignorance we would never learn anything

How much room do you need to comfortably land and take off at a riverbed location, the the gravel bar in your first photo? I'm talking length of gravel bar.

Hey Ben, good to see you on here. We met last year at the Airmen's Show when your Patrol was on display. Looks like you've been having some fun since then [emoji41]

CapnMike wrote:

Crzyivan13 wrote:...Thanks again for posting the pics. Feel free to post more! Looks awesome. And welcome to BCP! Great bunch of people here. For the most part...[emoji6]

All right Evan, if you've got something to say to me, just go ahead and say it - you don't have to beat around the bush like this...

But Mike, that's what we do here!!! Beat around the Bush, right?

A1Skinner: I frequently fly with my window open, though I keep speeds low.
Whee: No regrets foregoing wing paint. I like how it looks and likely saved some weight. It does take some work to keep them shiny.
Crazyivan13: I used lexan, 3M double sided tape and sheet metal screws to attach it to the aluminum formers around the door. For instrumentation I run an MGL extreme powered by an oddesy battery that needs a recharge every few weeks. Otherwise no electric.
Battson: My landings are typically around 200' so I like a 300' + gravel bar at my current level of proficiency.
Zzz: I remember. Be sure to look me up on your next visit to Alaska...

AKpatrol wrote:Whee: No regrets foregoing wing paint. I like how it looks and likely saved some weight. It does take some work to keep them shiny.
..

Out of curiosity, how much weight?

Cool. Thanks. I plan to not paint my wings and just do some vinyl wrap on the leading edge and tips for SAR reasons.

Do you have a build log anywhere? I'm planning to make the rear windows on my 4-place a lot like you did. I've modified how I will build the rear doors to incorporate the windows but haven't figured how I'll mount the lexan. Would be nice to see how you did it.

Like most people I have always wanted to own a Cub one day, and am seriously considering building one over the next few years, keeping my 170 until I am ready to fly it. This thread has made me really question whether a Patrol might be a better option.

AKpatrol wrote:Crazyivan13: I used lexan, 3M double sided tape and sheet metal screws to attach it to the aluminum formers around the door. For instrumentation I run an MGL extreme powered by an oddesy battery that needs a recharge every few weeks. Otherwise no electric.
Battson: My landings are typically around 200' so I like a 300' + gravel bar at my current level of proficiency.

Cool - thanks for the answer.

What approach speeds are you seeing indicated on short finals (over the treetops) with a small load aboard?

Hey guys,
Would anyone like to continue this topic? I would like to hear any and all information about the patrol. Especially more pictures!
Thanks