Where did the engine come from? There's nothing like being able to lay eyes (and hands) on something to determine if it meets your requirements. Other than that, have the seller take lots of photos & give you lots of info. I hope things work out for you one way or another with that engine.

It was a barnstormers find; shipped from back east. There is nothing like putting your eyes on something but after months of looking I found nothing within driving distance. I thought I asked all the right questions, I got pictures and was satisfied. The seller was honest and I have no animosity towards him. I did a ton of homework but but wasn't enough. I don't think I'll ever be buying a core engine again but if I do I'll be better prepared.

Hey Whee,

Your build looks great! I'm a fellow Bearhawk builder, also building with my father, we have been working on this thing for about 5 years now. Lots of work, but an awesome adventure for sure.

We spent a bunch of time and fabbed rigging for 2870 EDO floats, so it'll be on floats/skis. O540 for a powerplant.

Whee,

Do you plan on putting your kids in this airplane? Your wife? How about your hide? This engine core sounds like a disaster. Cut your losses and buy/build the most reliable engine you can. If you can't afford one, save a bit longer, sometimes cheap is very expensive. I don't mean to sound condescending or a jerk because Im not trying to be. Just one guy on the outsides perspective. All the rest of the project looks fantastic!

Kurt

Thanks HawkRT! Great to hear from a fellow builder.

G44 wrote:sometimes cheap is very expensive.

Ain't that the truth! Your opinion is appreciated Kurt. Safety and reliability is weighing very heavily on my mind. I'm still excited about using a IO360 but it may not be this one.

One door tack welded together. Now to fit the wings and make sure the door clears the lift strut.

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You raised those door sills right? Fitting the wing to get the angle of the strut seems heavy handed for those of us who are space limited. I wonder if we could get the angle between the door post and the strut from a builder here or on the BH forums?

Then, just simulate the strut.

Yes, raised the sills 2". I have a few reasons to mount the wings with the major reason being welding on the wing mounts. Checking the door and getting a measurement for the gas strut that will hold the door open is just a bonus.

whee wrote:Now to fit the wings and make sure the door clears the lift strut.

How much did you allow for overlap where the plexi passes down over the door sill?
My experience is you don't need much to stop air getting in, maybe 1/4" at most, provided it seals *tight*.

I would really like to retrofit this door mod, the split doors are a faff... although I don't know about raising those sills... it seems hard. I guess it means welding which means recovering the interior and major strip-back of wiring and fuel lines etc etc etc = a much bigger faff...

Jon, I'm trying to find a solution that avoids raising the sills. The mouse door is goofy but I'm thinking it might still be useful in an upswing arc.

I like the idea of seaplane doors. I'd want to be able to open it in flight to take pictures, drop bowling balls, throw full piss bottles out of, and to just cruise around when its hot out, etc. The hinges might have to be beefed up to handle the in-flight air loads or just add a window to the swing-up frame.

At 90 mph, when I put my arm out to open or close the OEM window, I always feel lucky to get it back! Those are some impressive forces.

I really like the flip up window in my door. Flying with the door open is possible but you better have everything secured inside. With the smaller flip up I have a clear shot for the camera and my left elbow and don't lose stuff out the baggage compartment!

I think you're going to find that sill raised so much is going to make enplaning/deplaning more difficult than you think.....opinion.

MTV

Battson wrote:How much did you allow for overlap where the plexi passes down over the door sill?

I would really like to retrofit this door mod, the split doors are a faff... although I don't know about raising those sills... it seems hard. I guess it means welding which means recovering the interior and major strip-back of wiring and fuel lines etc etc etc = a much bigger faff...

Think I'm going to have 3/4" clearance between the frame and the strut so I'm planing for 1/2" of overlap of plexi over the sill.

If I was building from a kit I would use a mouse door or something similar. Just too much welding to do on a nice completed/painted airframe.

blackrock wrote:I like the idea of seaplane doors. I'd want to be able to open it in flight to take pictures, drop bowling balls, throw full piss bottles out of, and to just cruise around when its hot out, etc. The hinges might have to be beefed up to handle the in-flight air loads or just add a window to the swing-up frame.

Agreed. I want to fly with the doors open. I used the same hinge method as in the plans but instead of a 1.25" length of tube cut into 3 pieces for each hinge I used 3" of tube cut into 4 pieces. Also, I built the doors so a window could be easily added in case flying with the door open doesn't work out.

mtv wrote:I think you're going to find that sill raised so much is going to make enplaning/deplaning more difficult than you think.....opinion

You could be right. I know it is going to be more difficult than if I hadn't raised the door but I don't think it will be too bad. Certainly it will be easier than getting in/out of the front seat of a J3.

whee wrote:

mtv wrote:I think you're going to find that sill raised so much is going to make enplaning/deplaning more difficult than you think.....opinion

You could be right. I know it is going to be more difficult than if I hadn't raised the door but I don't think it will be too bad. Certainly it will be easier than getting in/out of the front seat of a J3.

It's not the sill which is the biggest issue, it's the wing strut which gets in the way. I can't imagine the sill will be a huge problem, but I guess you'd notice it.

Especially for larger less-flexible guys with hiking boots on - they do untold damage to the paint on the wing strut... I have only just repainted mine, and it already has a half dozen permanent marks on the paint...

I just couldn't wait anymore.

Cool!

A friend of mine just bought a wrecked Swift in order to part it out, it has an IO-360 Continental. The engine quitting caused the crash, don't know exactly what failed but there's a lot of good low time stuff on it (mags, etc). If you think you might want some parts off it, or for that matter the whole engine, PM me & I can put you in touch with him.

hotrod180 wrote:A friend of mine just bought a wrecked Swift in order to part it out, it has an IO-360 Continental. The engine quitting caused the crash, don't know exactly what failed but there's a lot of good low time stuff on it (mags, etc). If you think you might want some parts off it, or for that matter the whole engine, PM me & I can put you in touch with him.

Hate hearing about wrecked swifts. I'll send to an email.

Making a little headway.

Took the plane to my in-laws where he has a shop big enough we could fit the wings.
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The dihedral is set at 1*. Looking at it sure seems way more pronounced than the other BH I have time in. I am really looking forward to seeing how this thing flies.
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Welding on the wings fittings was a huge ordeal. Getting the wing roots properly set wasn't a big deal but the plans say that the distance between the tail post and each wing tip must be within 1" of each other. 1" seemed like a lot so we shot for 1/2" or less. After messing around with it for hours we finally got it set to where we were happy. Ended up being a 5/16" difference between the measurements.
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Bought some seat tracks and am going to build our own seats. Thinking we will have the two outside tracks run the length of the rear cabin and the inner rails will just be long enough to attach the middle seats to. Should give us great flexibility for seating and cargo tie downs.
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Main task right now is the engine mount. Took the Cessna mount and cut off the tubes that attach to the firewall.
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Currently have the engine blocked in place. Will make some adjustments to engine placement and will start welding on new tubes.
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Don't have any pictures but we finished all the door frames and just need to figure out door latches/locks. Also, we bought the IO360KB from Hotrod180s buddy. We didn't buy any of the accessories and the crankshaft ended up being cracked but there are a lot of other good parts we are getting for a good price.