Tell us what you did today on your Bearhawk Project

[Nev]

Today I spray painted my doors. My front doors were a modification and as expected, took quite some time. But I thoroughly enjoyed fabricating them and the creative side of the project was a welcome diversion too. They’re not finished yet, I still need to do a top coat on the inside of the cargo doors, and then I’ll line the front doors with Kydex. I’m also planning to mold some fiberglass retainer frames to hold the acrylic panes in place. I’m very happy with results so far.


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[Nev]

Thanks Jim !

[AKKen07]

Wow that's purdy!

[davzLSA]

Nev please come to Alabama and paint my LSA!!!

[rodsmith]

Very nice! I'm trying to determine if I can still raise the door sill and go with seaplane doors, without redoing a lot of fabric.

[Nev]

Very nice! I'm trying to determine if I can still raise the door sill and go with seaplane doors, without redoing a lot of fabric.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to fabricate an aluminium panel underneath the door that extended its full length, and then terminate the fabric at the rear structure.

This shows pictures of how I did it.

[rodsmith]

Thanks for the link! Is that wood that you added above the original door sill?

[Nev]

Thanks for the link! Is that wood that you added above the original door sill?

Yes - I got the idea from Rob Caldwell. 2” thick Cedar to raise the door sill, which enables the original aluminum sill to be screwed to it.

[svyolo]

You could also use vertical grain balsa. Cedar is light, but balsa is a lot lighter. They sell it in sheets for use in composite cored panels.

[Nev]

Cedar with lots of holes in it is also very light. Just saying

[RatherBFlying]

Working on wing attach fittingswing jigs.jpg

[AKKen07]

Finally hit a sort of milestone. Both wings are riveted shut with fuel systems etc installed and I am setting them aside to do the handful of projects on the fuselage that I want done before covering! I will be ordering my Stewart Systems stuff pretty soon methinks! Oddly enough one of the projects that I need to do is modify the pilots seat to give me more headroom! I sat in the fuse with the tail propped up level and found I had only 1/4" between my head and the crossbar above, which won't do...

[Gerhard Rieger]

Installed the fuel tanks and the fuel lines from Aux tanks to mains. I understand that the Facet pumps do have a non return inside, but, when I blew on mine a little air still seeped through. Because of that I opted to keep to my plan to install a proper oneway valve. I also added the recommended fuel filter from aircraft spruce.

[Nev]

40F3EB15-75C7-4228-97A1-4ACEC40C015C.jpeg6F309956-5832-4D88-9688-4C70F49B1442.jpeg I made a start with the cockpit Kydex panels today. Then my friend Jason helped to make a mock-up of the instrument panel on a laser cutter.

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[Bcone1381]

Is the side panel Kydex?

[Nev]

Is the side panel Kydex?

Yes it’s Kydex. I’m learning to heat form it. Seems to be pretty magical stuff so far. Fairly light-weight too.

[Hewko]

What thickness of Kydex are you using and any advice on using it?

[Nev]

What thickness of Kydex are you using and any advice on using it?

I’m using .028” thickness for the cockpit panels and it seems easily sufficient. Putting bends in it naturally stiffens it. Kydex can be cut with scissor or shears, drilled, sanded, and a Dremel works well too. It has good qualities for fire/smoke and is used in commercial aircraft cabins. I’m currently doing some test pieces for PVC adhesive.

The main issue is if you get too much heat on it, it will turn shiny and ripple. This is avoided by shielding what you don’t want to heat. I’ve made a mould to mould the interior door panel. My first attempt gave quite good results, but rippled in one area. I’ve now made up the wing root panels as well.

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[svyolo]

What are you using to mount the panels?

[JimParker256]

Wow! That looks really nice.

[spinningwrench]

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Finally finished installing and securing the last of my fuselage fuel lines with 5000 tubing. I welded these small zip lock tabs on the fuselage which makes for a very clean and super secure installation without using an Adel clamp.

[Nev]

What are you using to mount the panels?

The lower forward panels have lips that fold under the floor panels and are captured securely. The upper lips fold under the door sill aluminium cover and are captured there. The very front panels under the instrument console have their lower edge captured by the floor panels, and the top edge curves around the steel tubing and locks in place.

I’m still working out how to align the forward door edging, sikaflex might need to feature here.

The wing root panel lower edges roll nicely around the tubing and “clip” into place. Although they sit there nicely I think the fuel sight gauge mounts will lock it all together.

The upper rear panel that sits under the skylight will be retained by Velcro. I contemplated screws, but the panel is so light and “superficial” that I think Velcro will be perfect.

[Mark Goldberg]

Nev - your Kydex panels look really good. I wish one of you guys out there would make a little side business of making up these Kydex panels and offering them to builders. For all the different models. I am willing to assist. It has been something that seems really a nice looking alternative to interior fabric. And light weight. Mark

[robcaldwell]

Interesting... I Just ordered a sample sheet of Kydex from Amazon. Looking forward to seeing this material in person.

[spinningwrench]

Its a great material and very flameproof. Aluminum is .098 lbs/in3 and Kydex is .052lbs/in3 or half the weight. It heat/vacuum forms very well. That said I just finished all my interior panels in .020" aluminum as I wanted the ease of removal vs fabric. I considered Kydex a bit too late.