Fantastic! It's hard... but make sure you keep the pics coming.

Congratulations Whee. Enjoy the building project, but try and keep flying something while the project is underway. Keep us all posted on your project and non-project adventures as they happen.

wow, those are cool birds whee...i agree with magnum...put the biggest powerplant in there u can....! good find...!

Got to fly with Dave Roberts in his Bearhawk last year. O-540.... Reminded me of a dual 4 bbl 1967 Mustang Shelby when you floor it...so that's what seat back springs feel like! I've installed a 300 hp IO520 in my Bearhawk...it's on the back burner while I rebuild my Pacer.

Good to hear it Whee, you came REAL close to being lumped into the "just talking about it" category, by me anyway. Not that's there's anything wrong with that! Sounds like you probably got a good bang for the buck also. If you ever need a small crucial hardware item, and it's lack will bring things to a standstill, let me know.

Thread drift: when recently doing my new panel, I discovered I was lacking single ear nut plates for 6-32 machine screws, crucial to install the GRT MINI from the front side. Even Spruce was days away due to the holiday week. I had already drilled #30 holes in the carbon panel, and then I accidentally found that the said screws self tapped into the # 30 holes, good enough it seemed to at least hold the MINI in place so I could move on to other things. Later that day, when it came down to wrapping things up, just on a hunch I continued to torque down the screws to a usual tightness and found to my surprise the carbon didn't strip out, no nut plates required! The MINI's been in and out 3 times now, and though I did get some nutplates I'm holding off on using them for now, as it ain't going anywhere as is. Just a small part of the fun of working on your own airplane, and being experimental

Nosedragger wrote:Fun stuff. Did you need to have an interpreter? I'm dealing with the Minnesota lingo this week.

Nah, Pete didn't have much of an accent.

CamTom12 wrote:Do you have any pictures of your workshop?

No pics and not much of a workshop. Building it in my 2 car garage. When it comes time to fit the empennage we will move it to my dads slightly larger garage.

mtv wrote:Wait, you refueled in BZN and you didn't call? Holy Hannah!

I know, I know. But yeah, we were in a bit of a hurry.

Zzz wrote:You'll probably pass me up in no time, and you'll never look at another homebuilt the same way.

I doubt we will pass you up very soon if at all. There is so much work left to do on the fuselage it is kinda getting to me and we haven't even started.

blackrock wrote:Tell us more about it when you get a chance. How far along is it. I may have some surplus parts/pieces for you depending on what your plans are.

Will do and thanks. Give me a shout next time you are in IF and have some time to swing by. I'd like to hear what parts you might have.

Steelroamer wrote: hope you are planing to start a build thread, I love following along from home. it is as close as I will ever get to building one

This will be the build thread. It won't be as detailed as some of the other build threads but I'll at least keep posting pics.

Flyhound wrote:Enjoy the building project, but try and keep flying something while the project is underway.

Unfortunately I haven't flown since the spring when we sold the Luscombe and I doubt I'll do much flying till this plane is done. I'll have to get a high performance endorsement and I'll probably do that in a C210 and fly it a little while building.

m_moyle wrote:Got to fly with Dave Roberts in his Bearhawk last year. O-540.... Reminded me of a dual 4 bbl 1967 Mustang Shelby when you floor it...so that's what seat back springs feel like! I've installed a 300 hp IO520 in my Bearhawk...it's on the back burner while I rebuild my Pacer.

That IO520 under a Acclaim cowl is going to be awesome! Can't wait to see it flying. Blackrock took me flying a few years back and his O540 BH is amazing.

courierguy wrote:Good to hear it Whee, you came REAL close to being lumped into the "just talking about it" category

You have no idea how close I came I'm glad something worked out and hopefully things go ok from here on out.

I'm excited to do this build with my dad. We rebuilt our Luscombe 10 years ago and have done several other project together but this will be the most extensive. It will test our skills and dedication but we can do it. A relative moved into town recently and come to find out he scratchbuilt a starduster years ago and is looking forward to helping. He doesn't have any interest in flying anymore but he has skills I don't and is ready and willing to come help.

Thanks for the congrats! Chime in anytime with thoughts or observations!

Today we unloaded the plane so we could return the trailer to the guy we borrowed it from.

image by whee8e, on Flickr

The wings will be stored at my in-laws. There is a few things left to do on the wings but we aren't planing on touching them till the fuselage is done and ready for them. My dad has a lot of fiberglass experience and wants to build some drooped wingtips but I just want to buy the standard BH tips. We'll see what happens when we get to that point.

image by whee8e, on Flickr

Whee, to use Flickr, you'll need to use the Share link (curvy arrow icon) on the photo page, then copy/paste their BBcode syntax.

Thanks Z. I dislike flicker so I need to find a different place to host my pictures

whee wrote:Thanks Z. I dislike flicker so I need to find a different place to host my pictures

For a good building photo gallery, it's nice to have something with some organization. Flickr and Imgur are good at that.

The Flickr mobile app is pretty good, making uploads and organization convenient, so I wouldn't so as quick to dismiss it. They also give you a range of sizes to share for every upload.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8623053@N ... 733457098/

Zzz wrote:

whee wrote:Thanks Z. I dislike flicker so I need to find a different place to host my pictures

For a good building photo gallery, it's nice to have something with some organization. Flickr and Imgur are good at that.

The Flickr mobile app is pretty good, making uploads and organization convenient, so I wouldn't so as quick to dismiss it. They also give you a range of sizes to share for every upload.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8623053@N ... 733457098/

WARNING: Possible Thread Hijack

Zane, your shop looks cool. Is it a garage or basement or shop? I like the abundance of light. My hangar is so completely miserable right now at 0 degrees and low light.

Congrats Whee

SixTwoLeemer wrote:
Zane, your shop looks cool. Is it a garage or basement or shop? I like the abundance of light. My hangar is so completely miserable right now at 0 degrees and low light.

Congrats Whee

Thanks Lanny. It's my garage. It was completely unfinished when we moved in and I insulated everything but the door, sheetrocked all surfaces, and added a heater. It's like another room of the house now and I can spend as much time out there as I like without getting cold. Stay cool in the summer too. I think it's the only wall insulation in this 60 year old house.

Anyway, back to the Whee show.

Congrats, Whee! The Bearhawk is a pretty cool plane.

Zzz wrote: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8623053@N ... 733457098/

Thread-jack: looks like a set of those new Desser 850x6 smoothies in your photos, Zane. What do you think of those? If & when they get those approved for certificated airplanes, I might get some. My new 180 came with a set of Desser's monster retread 850's so it might be a while.

BTW I just checked Desser's website to see if they have the certified ones out yet. Doesn't appear so. But FWIW I noticed that the exp version is rated at 1600#. Not sure if that means max airplane weight of 1600 or not but I'd assume so, since having the airplane touch down on one wheel is not unusual.

You HAVE to have a decent build place, it will pay off in innumerable ways down the road. As in, long after the plane is built and flying, you still have a good enviro for other projects of any kind.

I just went through this last year again, when i built a "hangar" for my crane on a lot in town. Now I notice my attitude is improved tremendously on a work day start...... I'll show up early, and detail it: vacuum the cabs, polish the lights, clean out all the empty coffee cups. Before, when I had it parked outside (but plugged in, that's a must) I'd show up and kick the tires and light the fires. Same with a good hangar, a pleasant place to spend time with your plane, a gotta have if at all possible. I would never have the nice shop I now have, if the airplane building bug had not forced the issue, thank God!

courierguy wrote:..... Same with a good hangar, a pleasant place to spend time with your plane, a gotta have if at all possible......

Although I kept my first airplane tied out, I've owned my hangar now for about 17 years and I can't imagine not having one. Out of the weather to tinker, hang out, whatever. It's hard to believe how much of the Alaska lifestyle revolves around airplanes, yet how many people there keep them tied out- esp considering the wx extremes.

The really cool part about building your own aircraft is when you register it. Your name becomes a "MAKE" in the FAA registry. Make and model can be anything you want, since you're considered the manufacturer.

As in: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry ... rtxt=311SV

And: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry ... rtxt=612SV

I know this is putting the cart way before the horse but my advise, when you do go to get the airworthiness inspection, try to get it done through real live FAA types. They are far more lenient and willing to work with you on things than the DARs... in MY experience.

Haven't done anything yet besides studying the plans, ordering material and thinking about some things I might want to change/do different.The jig the airframe was built in was 2" longer in the tail. The theory is that it will make the plane handle better on the ground. In the BH I flew I didn't notice any problem with ground handling so I've been wondering if I should shorten the frame back to plans dimensions. Think I've decided to leave it alone. You can see where the tubes were lengthened to fit the jig.



I've also been thinking about the elevator trim; I don't like how the tabs servo. I'd like to use a Dakota Cub jack screw assembly and covert the tail to a trimable horizontal stabilizer. I'd have to eliminate the front tail brace wire and I can't do that without beefing up the horizontal stab. I ordered a stabilizer from Avipro and I don't want to cut into it so I think I'll just use a cable/tab system like a maule unless I come up with a good way to eliminate the front flying wire.

Material should be here Tuesday and hopefully some visible progress will made.

Whee,

I can't remember who makes it but there is a mod for Super a Cubs that adds a front brace to the elevator. The brace moves with the jack screw. Friend of mine has it on his amphibian Cub... You could probably fab up a system that is similar and have the trimable stab..

Brian

Whee, my opinion of course but I would build it to plans. I'm not sure why the builder felt he needed to lengthen the fuse but the Bearhawk is well known as an easy ground handling airplane. I jumped into my newly built 4 place with 7 hours total tailwheel time. As for the trim tab, again it's really a non issue to me, works well. It is sensitive but I actually like not having to crank away to make a change, small movements.
I've seen lot's of guys start heavily modifying their build but unless you're ready for the inevitable 'changing this changes that - oops how do you do that?' results I would stick with the plans, the plane is after all designed, engineered, tested and proven as is.
Here's what I fear - a major modification is made, then a builder wants advice on some issue. Normally a call to Bob Barrows who designed the plane or others who have built before you gets you a quick answer. But with a major structural change done who can blame Bob or anyone when they say you're on your own. I'm not putting words in Bob's mouth but who could blame him in the case of a design change. The best you might get from the Bearhawk crowd is 'that should work' but you are the designer, structural engineer and beta tester. Maybe that's your thing and power to you but my opinion is from the beginning be determined to stick closely to the plans for MAJOR airframe structure. There's enough work to do.