Tell us what you did today on your Bearhawk Project

[DBeaulieu]

Cut, fitted and drilled plexi door window - one down and on more to go
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[Nev]

Very nice. That's something I'd probably do next time around, having the smaller window panel in the lower door section. Certainly useful for manoeuvring on rough ground.

[alaskabearhawk]

One of my last hurdles was trying to figure out a way to keep the front cargo door open. I've seen a number of ideas and solutions, but none that I really liked or wanted to mess with. A friend I used to work with years ago stopped by the shop yesterday afternoon for a long overdue visit and to have a look at my project. We talked for a long time, reminiscing about any number of things. As he was getting ready to leave I told him of my issue and asked if he would have any ideas. I told him of the door catch that Civil Air Patrol mechanics made for our Beavers. They attached to the wing lift strut. Not too complex to make, but a lot of work and that was my Plan A. We talked for awhile and then he came up with this dirt-simple concept! So, it's my turn to try and figure out how to make it and this is what I came up with. I finally settled on using a couple of tailwheels from R/C models I have hanging in my shop. After an afternoon of some simple lathe work and tweaking I now have a door stop! It's not much bigger than a fuel sump and if I end up changing my mind at a later date I can always go back to my Plan A.

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[Gerhard Rieger]

Engine mounting rubbers for IO 540 I have to decide between Lord and Barry mounts, can anybody give me their input on how Barry mounts are? There is a substantial price difference. How does the quality compare!

[rodsmith]

I can only speak to the Barry mounts and I haven't flown yet. I have had the engine mounted several years and there has been no detectable sagging so far. They were easy to install.

[Gerhard Rieger]

Thanks for the reply, just needed to hear from someone who used them

[alaskabearhawk]

It was a good day today. The large bits made it to a hangar at SXQ/PASX without being damaged. The fuselage JUST fit my 18ft flatbed trailer! Assembly starts tomorrow…

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[alaskabearhawk]

First engine start. Not super exciting to watch, but it is something special: https://youtu.be/t5hL1o_Rv9E

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[RobinDeMarco]

Congratulations, Paul! Looks great and is encouragement for the rest of us to keep building.

[Redneckmech]

Congratulations Paul! For the first time, you are not having to make the airplane noises yourself!

[Stefano]

Your exuberance is my inspiration! Best part of the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5hL1o_Rv9E&t=150s

[rkennell]

Very good! Encouragement to get to work for the rest of us.

[alaskabearhawk]

It's official. N907PM is no longer a project, it's a real airplane!

Pinocchio: And someday, I'm gonna be a real boy! Geppetto: A real boy! It's my wish! It's come true!

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[RobinDeMarco]

Congratulations, Paul!

[OhioLSA]

Congratulations! Beautiful aircraft.

[Gerhard Rieger]

Congrats, what a milestone in life, your plane looks great

[rv8bldr]

Prep for paint continues while I await warmer temperatures. Finally finished the fill/sand/fill/sand thing chin scoop, nose bowl, and exhaust air dam. Now it was time to figure out the masks for my paint scheme. All you guys who used single colour or straight lines on your airplanes are WAAAAY smarter than me....

Desired Outcome:
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Wing (the mask, when cut out, is for the blue bit. It is the only one needed)
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Fuselage:
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[rv8bldr]

Unlikely it will be at OSH this year. With painting, final assembly and inspection, remedial work (I'm sure there will be something), paperwork, and the test program, I don't think it is possible. That being said, one can always hope...

[RobinDeMarco]

The paint scheme looks very sharp, rv8bldr. Did you do the design yourself or was it hired out?

[rv8bldr]

Did it myself just using Microsoft Paint. I scanned the 3-view from the plans and futzed around with 6 or 8 different designs. I did the same thing back in the day for my RV-8. Since this is a scratch-build (mostly), I heightened the panel of my Bearhawk which changed the glareshield angle so I modified the 3-view a bit to make it closer to what I built

[SpruceForest]

With all these flight tests and painting, still soldiering along in my wing build (not jelly at all that you guys are flying...).

While my build buddy Carlo is already skinning his (wet) wings at the 8 month mark, I just finished building up and leveling sections 1 and 2 of the spar bench for handling flaps and ailerons. These are standard 5'3" x 24" x 32" modules that level independently than get a top made up of multiple layers of 18mm ply. All 2x4 stock and standard 4x8 sheets of 18mm ply 9although I joint and sand for a pretty, more uniform appearance). We won't need the wider table because we assemble the wing on a free-standing jig (see earlier post on that if interested), with just the spars, ailerons, and flaps being built up on the table. Once the ailerons and flaps are done, the third section of the table is added for wing spars, but in the meantime the two table sections do double duty as a long bench in the guitar shop (nice for load/unload).

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Need to do a little grinding and prime/paint on the stand seen on the table, then remount the wheels. This will take the 50" box and pan brake that was delivered Friday. I suppose another thread is in order for that project, but let me recommend Beaver Industrial Supply (BIS) in St. Louis... after Tennsmith could not deliver in under 4-6 months, and most of the other folks offering the BPB-1650 50" Jet B&P brake claimed either long delivery times (5 weeks +) or non-availability due to Jet's parent company ingesting a bending brake manufacturer, Beaver delivered in 3 days with best price ($2069), no shipping (even for residential delivery... versus Trick Tools' $480 shipping due to lift gate service). I even got this very cool t-shirt from them, and a real person on the phone when I called about availability. Super nice dude did the delivery, calling me a couple times during the day to keep me up to date on his ETA. Powered pallet jack took it up the driveway and parked it exactly where I needed it to get final measurements for the stand. Repurposed some crate material for the shelf below the brake... win-win.

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Looking at the BIS site this AM, looks like I scored the last 50" bench top 16 gauge brake, so the story from other suppliers of switch-over to new branding may be correct. Would def recommend BIS for other stuff.

[DBeaulieu]

Got a housing fixture (from Wag-Aero) for a rear tail light welded in to the rudder over the weekend. Also added tabs for nutplates in case I need to attach a rudder trim tab

rudder light housing.jpg

[spinningwrench]

Wiring, wiring. Lots of wires slowly getting terminated.

[rodsmith]

Very nice looking panel and workmanship! I hope I can make my current rats nest look a lot more like yours behind the panel.

[Sir Newton]

Nice choice of instruments.

[Dpearson]

First test swing of aileron and flap. 50 degrees looks insane!

[DBeaulieu]

Got the rear fuel lines run forward to the bulkhead "T"fitting. Made 3 sections line joined with 45 bulkhead fitting and rubber line. All removeable if required without disturbing exterior fabric.

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[Bcone1381]

I like your 45 degree bulkhead fitting aft of the door post. Looks great!