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Big day, first engine test start in my LSA! Used 0-200d w/1260 hours, new dual emags, vetterman exhaust
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I wanted a cockpit indication of the cowl flap position. The Ray Allen position sensor can be hooked to the G3X to provide that information. Took some head scratching to figure out how to mount it. Realized that it needed to be mounted to a hinge to work as the cowl flap moves in and out.
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I got the fuselage moved to the airport, finished up the empennage, and today got the wings installed with help from a local LSA builder. Next items include aileron & flap cables installed and rigged, then install the control surfaces.
Screenshot 2024-10-01 at 9.47.20 PM.png Screenshot 2024-10-01 at 9.48.33 PM.png Screenshot 2024-10-01 at 9.48.49 PM.pngBrooks Cone
Southeast Michigan
Patrol #303, Kit buildComment
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More 6-10 PM entertainment for Carlo's ever-patient neighbors as we tack and weld the second Patrol fuselage in his standard suburban front-load garage (some neighbors wander by to see the show; others shield their children's eyes to avoid those awkward questions ("Mr. Carlo and his friends make airplanes in his garage... what do you and Daddy make, Mommy?"). Sunday was a 10 hour day that got us from flat upper and lower frames to the aft three frames in. Monday PM saw the all but one of the vertical stations in as well as firewall. Tues PM got some of the firewall T-10 and T-11 fitted and tacked, as well as the last fuse station in and the diagonals tacked plus a good start on the wing mount/upper fuse framing. Shots from Monday PM... too busy last night to get the requisite pics... my daughter doubts progress...'no photos means it never happened.' Def have to drag her up to Frederick for show an tell before the weekend.
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Carlo's fuse is hanging up over the milling machine and workbenches waiting for the build table to be broken down and my fuse moved down to my shop... great visualization tool for coping... I get to figure out the sequence of vertical mill cuts, make them just short of the marks, then use cutoff wheel, bullnose 5/8" carbide mill bit, and flap grinder to tweak. Might be an hour to get a tube fitted on both ends, but a lot fewer stops to get input from Carlo.
I went with the scratch-built Patrol over something like a Rebel or Cub clone because of the wide mix of materials and techniques necessary to get the airplane flying. My dad was fond of saying that '...the guy that dies with the most diverse set of skills wins, rather than a bunch of toys you cannot take with you...,' and what that is highlighting is how much I don't know. And that is a good thing, right? ;-)Last edited by SpruceForest; 10-02-2024, 07:25 AM.Comment
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Absolutely... and the head-scratching is reduced, or at least is more productive. I'd like to think I saved Carlo a bunch of time with my wing tooling and press setup when he did his wings, but right now, I am the one drinking from the firehose! We did pass the wing tooling on to another Patrol builder from Michigan this past weekend... not the full build-buddy experience, but I hope it helps Jake with the build and he in turn gets to pass that tooling on to yet another builder. -
Great looking work, I'll be building my fuselage soon. I would be interested in your experiences bending the longerons. Did you do it hot or cold? Any insite you can provide would be helpful. Working with steel tube is a skill I'm still developing.
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SpruceForest Nice work, fun to watch your progress. Have you any ideas how you may be implementing a hard point for shoulder seat belt attachment in the back seat? Curious...Comment
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With both fuselage's primary structure tacked and mostly welded as of 11 PM last night, we were noodling seats and belts. Looks like completing the upper fuse frame 'X' between L and M would allow an inertial reel aft of the L-M frame mid-point (we already have an overhead anchor plate for the front seat reel) and a decent angle on the harness. Another option is cable anchors on the L frame, but that creates a bit of an issue for baggage, etc. What are you thinking about?Originally posted by DBeaulieu View Post
Seat looks like tube with CF/kevlar bucket... doing the vac bag mold right now. Carlo already laying up all his flooring in CF/Kevlar/foam, so not a bad idea.
IMG_1183.jpg IMG_1184.jpgLast edited by SpruceForest; 10-04-2024, 02:03 PM.Comment
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SpruceForest I placed forward inertia reel at STA N cluster. Undecided for rear seat. I have a QB Patrol fuselage and I think the ideal place is as you depict. I would want to check with Bob Barrows about welding additional tubing diagonals first. Also considering tube clamps at STA M or STA L with a small attachment to hold shoulder harness webbing sans inertia reel. Thanks for posting! Dave -
DBeaulieu It definitely adds some weight (~ 15 ounces for tubing plus the mount plate), but at 0.035 wall thickness, not as much as you would assume, and less than cable and cable anchors from the side frames. Bob's design methodology is the usual truss design, but notice the diagonals in the top and bottom frame aft of E-M, with upper and lower diagonal reversed to put them in tension/compression for fuse torsional loads. The X should not do anything beyond adding an additional degree of torsional rigidity there (already fairly stiff due to the cross-frame diagonals), but does provide a load path for the rear shoulder harness. Ideally, that pull is level with shoulders, but between range of torso height and getting a function anchor point, better than trying to beef the seat to the point where it takes that load. -
In retrospect, adding just the aft half of the additional X provides enough structure to handle the shoulder harness load, although for the extra 7 ounces to close out the bay, I'll probably go with a full cross-piece.
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We got the forward wing mount-to-firewall frame diagonals in Thursday PM and set things up to move my fuse down to Germantown via another chapter member's 24' race trailer Sat PM (the trailer provider lives just south of me, and keeps his RV-9 and RV-10 at Frederick, so kindly volunteered to hitch the trailer up and do a run to and from FDK). Had to get the shots of both fuselages before the move, with mine going overhead in my garage (11' headroom, hung sideways still gives me 8' until I can do some demo and a new wall section to close off my 10' x 20' bay).
Over this AM to get the remaining T11 and T10 stuff into Carlo's fuselage, plus pick up his dynafocal ring to get that jig built.
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I'm seeing lots of floor mounting tabs in one fuselage but not the other. Are you planning something different? -
Carlo had the week I was down in Tampa to tab out his fuse... I will duplicate that in mine, but need a day to get the tabs sheared and drilled. I think my cabin floor will be a little different - still vacuum bagged CF/kevlar, but might do 3/16" foam and final layer of glass. Still noodling. Currently puzzling out the rudder cable routing and fairleads... not much to go by besides Newton's BH4 book and general practices (3 deg max; etc). -
Let me know if you need fairlead pictures. I had to add an additional fairlead to my Quickbuild fuselage to guide the flap cable underneath the seat mount. I think Carlo might be developing an overhead flap handle however.
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Final installation of glare shield, boot cowl, windshield and skylight (at least I sure hope it is final). I was going to rivet the boot cowl on, at the last minute decided to go with screws, drilled out the dimpled rivet holes for #6 cs screws. Will make any future removal much easier. I used a thin bead of Sikaflex 221 to seal the perimeter of the skylight and the top of the windshield. I used a healthy amount of it to seal the base and screwed down the windshield fairing before it set up. I removed the EFIS screens to access the screws from the underside while a friend installed them from the top side. Removed the protective coating from both sides of the windshield and was shocked at how clear it was, guess I had never looked through a new aircraft windshield before, hope I can keep it in good shape.
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Weigh in day. With 6 gallons of unusable fuel and full oil, 1535#, 9.9" cg. I actually expected it to be heavier. A full skylight, full plexiglass doors, 30# of G3X system, leather seats, and 3" prop extension accounted for a lot of the extra weight. I also removed the rear seats and harnesses and weighed again. 1510# and 9.2" cg. I'm thinking as seldom as I would carry rear seat passengers, I may fly it as a 2 seater if it will save a significant amount in liability insurance. Tail wheel weight was 83 as a 4-place, 76 as a 2-place. While I had the scales weighted the tail wheel in 3- point, it is 150, sure feels heavier than thatLast edited by rodsmith; 10-07-2024, 01:13 PM.Comment
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First engine run today. The mechanic that built my engine wanted to be present and it was a comfort to have him there. All went well. He adjusted the idle and idle mixture on the servo to get an idle of 700rpm. I tried slowly increasing rpm to full throttle but cylinder 6 alarmed at 400F at about 2500. Will put the cowling back on before running again.Comment
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Pitch servo mount.jpg I got done this week some final welding and painting on hardpoints for my pilot inertia reel and attachment for rear shoulder harness inertia reel plate.jpg inertia reel plate 1.jpg Made some s/s/ door strikers and mounted the pitch servo in place.
door striker small.jpg rear seatbelt shoulder attachment small.jpg tube clamp setup small.jpgLast edited by DBeaulieu; 10-14-2024, 09:14 AM.Comment
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That was where Carlo thought his aft inertia reel mount would go. Are you happy with the angle from shoulders to the mount? it looks pretty decent, and no need to add tubes with required blast/prime/paint. -
The angle is okay though not ideal IMHO (I hate to say it like that) I would have been happier if I could have moved the attachment aft another 12 inches or so. Was a compromise versus doing more fabrication on a finished fuselage. My solution is plenty stout...no worries there. Could be done a bit lighter with just using webbing loop straps and a thru bolt to hook on to.
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Nice total weight. I was curious about where the 6 gallons of unusable fuel is sitting ?Originally posted by rodsmith View PostNev Bailey
Christchurch, NZ
BearhawkBlog.com - Safety & Maintenance Notes
YouTube - Build and flying channel
Builders Log - We build planesComment
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Two gallons in each main tank and one gallon in each aux tank. I put a few gallons in each tank. While the plane was level, I pumped the aux tanks to the mains until the pumps lost suction, easy to hear without the engine running. I then used the electric pump to pump the mains out until they lost suction. After weighing, drained the tanks in the 3- point position and weighed the fuel from each tank. It was a nearly identical amount from side to side. Main tanks were just slightly under two gallons each, and aux tanks just under 1 gallon.Originally posted by Nev View PostComment
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Moved the fuselage out of the garage and up to the hangar this A.M. I have a friend with a 18' slide bed tow truck which is just the right length for a Patrol with a Bearhawk tailwheel. Roll on, 4 straps and 13 miles later, safely at the hangar. Now in position to pin the wings, hang the tail feathers and adjust control rigging prior to cover. Likely running out of warm(ish) weather within the next month...
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I believe I may have the unenviable record for longest time to complete a Bearhawk. But I persevered and got it done. My first build log entry was 6-1-1999. It struck me that that is a quarter century ago, somehow sounds worse than 25 years. Received my special airworthiness certificate today.
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I'm real excited for you Rod! For context of your perseverance, In 1999 we were all excited about Y2K. We had 1 megapixle digital cameras, Apple just came out out with an Airport device to broadcast Wifi so we did not have to plug in. My sources say the first Beartracks Article came out in 1995 and the Patrol Plans were not available until 2002.Last edited by Bcone1381; 10-24-2024, 07:40 AM. -
Congratulations! That is incredible perseverance and you have a beautiful aircraft to show for it!
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