Long nose bearhawk?

[AKMac]

Sorry if this is dumb question, or has been asked before.

I'm wondering if some builders are using a different cowling for their bearhawks? It appears that several I have seem have a longer or more sleek looking nose. I know it could be an optical illusion from not have a carb inlet, but that aside, it still appears to me that some of these aircraft have a different nose.

I have attached a few pictures showing the difference.

[whee]

Battson's plane (all yellow) does have a longer nose by a couple inches so his prop spinner fits good. The red/silver plane looks like it has a longer nose too but I don't know. I definitely think they look longer without the air box but I really like that look.

Ultimately you locate the crank hub as stated in the plans, choose your prop/spinner and make the cowl fit nicely. This means some planes will have a longer cowl than others depending on the prop choice and how tight the builder wanted the cowl to fit the spinner.

[Battson]

Yes, ours is about 2" longer. We did this to make room for the induction system - but ultimately the length is dictated by your prop, because the prop spinner has to match the nose bowl. Prop choice, or more specifically the prop hub and matching spinner, makes all the difference. Georg's Bearhawk, the silver and red one. has a prop extension between the hub and the engine. Again, this was to create extra room for the inlet. Lars Fellman's Bearhawk (rego ZK-FHR if you want to search it) has the same kind of streamlined induction with a standard nose length, his cowling has a small blister to accommodate the air filter. All those planes are using the same nose bowl and the same engine mount.

That small 2" makes a huge difference visually, eh?! The long pointy MacCauley and MT spinners accentuate that visual effect too. Whereas the slightly shorter spinners reduce the visual effect. Large tires greatly diminish that effect.

I think Bob's prototype, the red and white one in your pictures, actually has a slightly shorter nose than the standard kitset Bearhawk does. I think the engine mount is a fraction shorter on the prototype. The top cowl is also set at a shallower angle, I think that was achieved by using a different nose bowl - the ones which Bob makes and sells. The standard kitset Bearhawk will be somewhere in between the ones you've pictured, they come with Pitts S2 nose bowl.

[AKMac]

Thanks for the answers guys.

Battson, if you don't mind me asking, which nosebowl are you running on your bearhawk? (Also, I'm a huge fan of your youtube channel )

Honestly, I like the looks of the long nose and pointy spinner so much, I would go out of my way to do it. It definitely changes the whole stance of the airplane.

[Battson]

Thanks for the answers guys.

Battson, if you don't mind me asking, which nosebowl are you running on your bearhawk? (Also, I'm a huge fan of your youtube channel )

Honestly, I like the looks of the long nose and pointy spinner so much, I would go out of my way to do it. It definitely changes the whole stance of the airplane.

Thanks for the kind words Mac!

I am using the nose bowl which "Bearhawk Aircraft" / Avipro supply with their kitset, which is the Pitts Special S2 nose bowl.

I agree about the pointy spinner and longer nose, I think they look great.
My nose probably ended up one inch longer than I would have liked.
I imitated the Bearhawk Mike Araldi built: http://bearhawkaircraft.com/araldi-bh/

[rodsmith]

George Himmeroder's plane, pictured on the left in the first post, has a 4" prop extension. He used that to optimize the inlet cooling ducts. My project has a 3" prop extension. I needed it for my forward facing injector inlet off the cold air induction. One change always leads to more.