Tell us what you did today on your Bearhawk Project

[quesauce]

Hi All!,

First post for me and I'm glad to say I completed step 1 for Patrol 315 this weekend. Well, I guess step 1 and then step 0. Saturday I cut out the mylar, glued it to a piece of 3/4" Finnish birch plywood and cut it out and sanded. It's pretty close to the mylar with a couple of places under the line. I doubt it matters. I also laid out hole and spar locations.

After spending a few hours hunched over my work (I'm 6'5") I decided I would spend Sunday building some new benches. I finished one and a half EAA 1000 benches today. They're per the manual except I used melamine for the top and I raised the finished height to 42 inches. Nothing too exciting, but I had a blast.

Kevin

[Glenn Patterson]

Kevin,
Welcome! Tables & pattern are the first steps in a big adventure. Make them comfortable as you will spend a lot of time on them. It is good to have a comfortable stool & chair handy. Good lighting for the fine work. A radio made it more enjoyable in the shop. Enjoy the work, laugh or smile at the mistakes and all will go well. If you need any guidance there is a lot of support here and an excellent group of guys who have gone before you that you can lean on. The definition of experience is " something you have when you are finished that you could have really used at the beginning." Experience in spades on this forum. Look forward to seeing the posts of your Patrol's progress.
All the best,
Glenn

[n144sh]

Got the chance to fly my shiny new T3 Tailwheel suspension. Blackrock has already done a great job reviewing it - not much to add except I concur! Really like the soft cushy feel. Even has a bit of grass hanging off of it, promise I didn't stage that! Great product and support from Dan D.

[Battson]

They are so tempting! I just wish the would fit without needing to cut off the steering arms. It just seems so final.

[JimParker256]

I'm still waiting to hear what (if anything) they can do for stinger-type tailwheels...

[Chris In Milwaukee]

With a proper blade and solid edge guide, cut my second spar cap out of .125" yesterday. Like butter! Much, much better. Only 40-something more of them to go.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JimParker256]

Completed my tailwheel training in my 100-hp 1965 Citabria 7ECA, and got the CFI endorsement. Celebrated by flying solo for an hour in the 98°F heat, doing stop-and-go landings with an 8-knot direct crosswind, Keep imagining how much better this will be in my Patrol, when it is finished! Can't believe I waited so long to have this fun in my life!

[EricP]

Hope everyone is enjoying a great Fourth of July weekend! Brent and I got in a little Bearhawk time today. We rehung the engine a night ago and it went WAY better than expected. So our Saturday could be devoted to moving on to other things. Brent is hooking up and installing engine systems. I am in charge of the "Tinhawk" wood department.... which means I am installing the aerodynamic wood strips on the tail to help it be more effective. Since Brent is our resident Tin-knocker I guess I get assigned the woodwork! Anyway I am in the process of bolting the wood strips into our vertical and horizontal stabs. Here are a couple pics from today's work.

I am getting tailwheel (and little airplane!) instruction in a 1946 Aeronca Champ with 65 full HP! No electrical so hand propping and we use a handheld for radio work. Tomorrow I hope to get checked out for solo... we will see.

[EricP]

Still installing the wood strips... ran out of nyloc nuts so once I am resupplied I can finish that! I did solo in the Champ today so that adventure is continuing. The rest of the family snuck out to the airport and was on the ramp to surprise greet me when I taxied back in after 4 circuits of the pattern! First solo in tailwheel for me. Fun for us today!

[Bdflies]

It's all taped up! My small iron died (element burned out), so there's still ironing to do, but everything on the fuselage is taped. I had some minor concerns about the viability of straight tapes, on the upper and lower longerons, but 4" straight tapes worked fine. I wanted to avoid bias, because of the difficulty holding lines straight on the long stretches. The only bias tape on the fuse, is the vertical stabilizer, up the spine.
Next step would be shooting primer. I told my better half that I would take a break from the project, to catch up on grounds maintenance that I'd been ignoring. My place is looking pretty shaggy... That 'break' should take me to Oshkosh. Our Cajun Delegation is really looking forward to meeting with you guys on Tuesday! After a few days of aircraft immersion, it'll be full steam ahead!

Bill

[Bdflies]

The covering is fun and greatly encouraging. After all the months spent working on the skeleton frame (I don't work fast...), it goes from bare bones to fully covered in two weeks! (Remember; I'm slow..). Nothing hard about it!

[John Bickham]

Bill,
Now that your this far down the road.......
Do you have a strong preference for the Superflite system over the Stits Poly Fiber?
I only have experience with the Poly Fiber system using Aerothane.

Any heat and humidity issues with Superflite system? I'm hopefully coming to the end of my long "TAB" journey on the fuselage. Hope to soon get into the start of priming everything. Hardest part is staying hydrated and not grounding out due to soaked with sweat. Gets my attention.

[Bdflies]

Well John, I could easily turn into a Superflite salesman. Like you, all my previous experience was with Stits process. After helping a local friend (who's covered several aircraft, with different processes), I was convinced that Superflite is an improvement. That being said, if you plan to go Stits, I have a BUNCH of Polyfiber stuff that I'll give you! Seriously, I have gallons of Polyfiber....... Yours for free!

[Av8rPaul]

It's all taped up! My small iron died (element burned out), so there's still ironing to do, but everything on the fuselage is taped. I had some minor concerns about the viability of straight tapes, on the upper and lower longerons, but 4" straight tapes worked fine. I wanted to avoid bias, because of the difficulty holding lines straight on the long stretches. The only bias tape on the fuse, is the vertical stabilizer, up the spine.
Next step would be shooting primer. I told my better half that I would take a break from the project, to catch up on grounds maintenance that I'd been ignoring. My place is looking pretty shaggy... That 'break' should take me to Oshkosh. Our Cajun Delegation is really looking forward to meeting with you guys on Tuesday! After a few days of aircraft immersion, it'll be full steam ahead!

Bill

Looks great! See you at OSH.

[Deftone]

Finally got around to getting my stuff put away in the new place. I had a look at my router templates and need to come up with a way of repairing them to allow me to continue cutting my blanks (remember a few months ago my router caught the piece I was working with and launched it across the garage. The damage is on the the lightening hole, I am worried that with my repair it will not perfectly match the holes on the blanks I have already cut.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Thankfully, nothing relies on the lightening holes to be the exact same shape. Feel free to clean up the openings, ensuring they are smooth. As long as you aren't opening the holes a half inch or something goofy like that, I predict no ill effects. Can you refresh out memories as to the extent of the damage?

[Bcone1381]

Bondo is great product for repairing MDF templates. It sands and routs real nice. You can slap it on a little thick, then re-rout it if you like using the master.

[Chewie]

I had a look at my router templates and need to come up with a way of repairing them .

For a small nick I used baking soda and super glue, like one might use to repair an ultralight prop.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

[rv8bldr]

Just need to take it off the engine and airframe and do the finish welding. Pretty much wore a groove in the concrete floor walking back and forth from the mount to the grinder getting the ends to fit right :-)

[JimParker256]

Built a set of wing racks so I can get the wings out of the crates, and return the crates to Mark G.

Spent the rest of the day inside in A/C comfort, recovering from 3 hours outside in 98* heat. Whew! Gotta get my large workshop fan back from the folks I loaned it to!

[Av8rPaul]

Built a set of wing racks so I can get the wings out of the crates, and return the crates to Mark G.

Spent the rest of the day inside in A/C comfort, recovering from 3 hours outside in 98* heat. Whew! Gotta get my large workshop fan back from the folks I loaned it to!

You have a pic of the racks you built?

[JimParker256]

Better yet, I've got the plans. I'll post them when I get home.

[JimParker256]

Here's the url for the wing rack plans: http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=38104
I built mine for near zero cost (only the casters) out of materials on hand. The plans are a few posts down in that thread.

[Av8rPaul]

Excellent! Thank you Mr. Parker!

[JimParker256]

One issue with using my on hand lumber was that it was a bit warped. The slings take care of ensuring the wings themselves aren't impacted, but mine didn't sit level on the floor - rocked from corner to corner. I solved that by purchasing screw-in casters, and using them the stabilize the rocking... As I said - my cost prior to the casters was $0.00, so spending $25 or so on them was no biggie.

[craig]

Now I've got plenty to do: picked up the pre-built spar package today ( & got the wing ribs), A couple months ago, traveled down to Austin with Mr. Parker and picked up the fuselage tube kit and ribs for the empennage. Been working a little on the tail section,, plan is to move to the wings, then fuselage. In the mean time,, guess I've got to unpack this stuff......