I've heard that the Bearhawk is aerobatic capable, is this true? My wife's favorite part of flying is light aerobatics. It has been years since I received aerobatic training and performed aerobatics so I'd need to go back in for a refresher but if the BH is capable I want to be sure to check the appropriate box when filling out the FAA paperwork.
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Aerobatics in the 4-place?
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Yes, if you are under a certain weight but I don't recall what that is. I think gentlemen aerobatics was aptly used by someone to describe the capabilities. Loops, rolls, spins, etc. I'm not sure how easy it would be to get of the plane if you had to in the air though since there is no single emergency door release.
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I heard that Bob had rolled the plane once, and that's it.
I was of the opposite opinion based on my discussions some 4-5 years ago when I was looking to choose an aircraft (has it been that long?!) - I recall that the Bearhawk is not suitable for true "aerobatics", if I recall correctly.
I am sure the most basic aerobatic manoeuvres are approved, when the plane is lightly loaded - steep turns, chandells, and lazy eights.
I am sure you could roll it, based on the flying I have done I would say it's certainly possible. I can see why Bob decided to try it.
Pulling out of dives, hmmmm.... it accellerates fast and has a relatively low Vne. I am not sure I would not happy about looping it. Overspeed or very high g-force could be the result.
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I can confirm rolls. It rolls about like a J-3... very, very, slowly.
I don't think that over-speed would be a problem with loops, so long as you manage the speed to be low at the top of the loop. My RV-4 is much lower drag than the Bearhawk and its speed on exit from a loop done to be gentle instead of round is not terribly high.You do not have permission to view this gallery.
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At a guess, the Vne in an RV4 would be over 180 KIAS? A lot more drag at those speeds.
Much lower risk of flutter in the RV4 at loop exit speeds, I would have assumed.
Anyway - I wouldn't feel comfortable taking the risk with my plane / life. YMMVLast edited by Battson; 02-22-2016, 09:00 PM.
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RV-4 loop exit is more like 140 kts if done right and can be considerably less. Your contrast of RV-4 vs. Bearhawk makes the Bearhawk (quite reasonably) look like a J-3. J-3's have no counter balance on control surfaces and a Vne of 122(+/-?) mph. They loop nicely and that is the airplane I first learned loops, rolls and spins in. ...however, I'm not encouraging anyone to do anything they are not comfortable with. I've had to wrest the controls from some very talented and very experience pilots (no, really, these guys are very good pilots) who were not used to being upside down and did it wrong.
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The Luscombe has a Vne of 145mph and it was easy to do loops and split-s's without exceeding Vne. The split-s and hammerhead are among my favorites and would likely be as daring as I'd get. I did rolls in the Luscombe and didn't find them all that exciting. From what I remember the BH roll rate is about the same at the Luscombe.
Thanks for the replies. Maybe I'll just buy a Stearman.Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.
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