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Good day everyone. I wanted to share with you all the experience Ive had this past weekend. I was fortunate to be able to spend a few days with Mark Goldberg at his ranch outside of Austin. Although the weather wasn’t fantastic, I was still able to fly the LSA and 4 place 250hp and here is my report
To set the stage I want to say that I am no expert. I’m a 750 hour tailwheel pilot that started my flying in Ultralight aircraft as well as instructed. The aircraft I have owned and flew are Aeronca champ, tri-pacer, Husky UL, Mooney, 115hp citabria, Cessna 170, 180, 210hp glasstar sportsman, and most recently owned a 325hp Cessna 185 and 160hp Supercub.
The LSA was first and all I could say when I got in the Air was “Holy F?#@kâ€. The take off was short, it climbed great and the controls were perfect, all on 105hp. I was comparing it to my 160hp Supercub but I gotta say it makes my cub feel like a piece of shit. OK, I’m being a bit hard on my cub but when I spend the 120k on a Supercub that was built in 1954 and have to go through the certified expense to add VG’s, props and tires, just to have it fly at 90mph it leaves me a little bitter. You would think the cub would kick the ass off the LSA. I ‘m here to tell you it doesnt. I was a firm believer that if you want to land short you need flaps. I’m here to tell you that also is not true. I need to say,, I have never been so impressed with an aircraft on first impression in my life.
The 4 place. This thing just emits awesomeness. When you open the throttle on this aircraft, there is acceleration that you just dont get in anything I’ve flown. It climbs somewhere between 1500 and 2000fpm and because of the low cloud base I needed to pull back to get my bearings. Once again, the controls were absolutely perfect. Landing was easy, I had 3 notches of flaps, over the fence at 60 and no surprises on touchdown. I’m sure I had a permagrin from the time I opened the throttle until I shut the engine down. I compare it to my 185 but there is major differences that I want you all to know. My 185 had a brand new 325hp IO-550 turning a 3 blade MT, VG’s, Wing extensions and STOL leading edge cuffs. The 185’s acceleration is close, but Marks 3 blade Hartzell trailblazer on the 4 place beats it hands down. The cargo doors on the 4 place are huge. The 185 has the same size cargo door as the patrol. I used to have to take a seat out to get outboard motors and lumber in my 185. I took some measurements and the 4 place has 4 cu/ft more cabin than the 185 also. The only place my 185 would beat the 4 place would be top speed. This Bearhawk at 24/sq is IAS 150mph and I could get 158-160 with the 185.
I wil finish by saying this,,, If you are considering a Bearhawk or wondering how great they are,, Go see Mark and fly it. There is many opinions and hear says about aircraft and lots of Armchair experts that troll forums to give there expert advice showing the world how smart they are. Go see for yourself and I promise you will be impressed.
The only one I didn’t get to fly is the Patrol and that is the one I’m building. Can hardly sleep in excitement. I received my kit November 14th and I Should be taxi testing in 3 weeks. Hoping to be airborne mid May. I’m always available to chat if anyone wants to chat about my experience flying these things. I can be reached at 306-740-8803. If any of you want to connect on Instagram to see build progress im “isilveroneâ€
I want to say a big thank you to Mark and Kathy for having me. I was treated to Bearhawk flying, Hog hunting, the greatest BBQ I’ve had and homegrown Mint tee. Very nice for them to invite a Canadian stranger into there home for 3 days. I look forward to seeing them again. Happy building y’all
To set the stage I want to say that I am no expert. I’m a 750 hour tailwheel pilot that started my flying in Ultralight aircraft as well as instructed. The aircraft I have owned and flew are Aeronca champ, tri-pacer, Husky UL, Mooney, 115hp citabria, Cessna 170, 180, 210hp glasstar sportsman, and most recently owned a 325hp Cessna 185 and 160hp Supercub.
The LSA was first and all I could say when I got in the Air was “Holy F?#@kâ€. The take off was short, it climbed great and the controls were perfect, all on 105hp. I was comparing it to my 160hp Supercub but I gotta say it makes my cub feel like a piece of shit. OK, I’m being a bit hard on my cub but when I spend the 120k on a Supercub that was built in 1954 and have to go through the certified expense to add VG’s, props and tires, just to have it fly at 90mph it leaves me a little bitter. You would think the cub would kick the ass off the LSA. I ‘m here to tell you it doesnt. I was a firm believer that if you want to land short you need flaps. I’m here to tell you that also is not true. I need to say,, I have never been so impressed with an aircraft on first impression in my life.
The 4 place. This thing just emits awesomeness. When you open the throttle on this aircraft, there is acceleration that you just dont get in anything I’ve flown. It climbs somewhere between 1500 and 2000fpm and because of the low cloud base I needed to pull back to get my bearings. Once again, the controls were absolutely perfect. Landing was easy, I had 3 notches of flaps, over the fence at 60 and no surprises on touchdown. I’m sure I had a permagrin from the time I opened the throttle until I shut the engine down. I compare it to my 185 but there is major differences that I want you all to know. My 185 had a brand new 325hp IO-550 turning a 3 blade MT, VG’s, Wing extensions and STOL leading edge cuffs. The 185’s acceleration is close, but Marks 3 blade Hartzell trailblazer on the 4 place beats it hands down. The cargo doors on the 4 place are huge. The 185 has the same size cargo door as the patrol. I used to have to take a seat out to get outboard motors and lumber in my 185. I took some measurements and the 4 place has 4 cu/ft more cabin than the 185 also. The only place my 185 would beat the 4 place would be top speed. This Bearhawk at 24/sq is IAS 150mph and I could get 158-160 with the 185.
I wil finish by saying this,,, If you are considering a Bearhawk or wondering how great they are,, Go see Mark and fly it. There is many opinions and hear says about aircraft and lots of Armchair experts that troll forums to give there expert advice showing the world how smart they are. Go see for yourself and I promise you will be impressed.
The only one I didn’t get to fly is the Patrol and that is the one I’m building. Can hardly sleep in excitement. I received my kit November 14th and I Should be taxi testing in 3 weeks. Hoping to be airborne mid May. I’m always available to chat if anyone wants to chat about my experience flying these things. I can be reached at 306-740-8803. If any of you want to connect on Instagram to see build progress im “isilveroneâ€
I want to say a big thank you to Mark and Kathy for having me. I was treated to Bearhawk flying, Hog hunting, the greatest BBQ I’ve had and homegrown Mint tee. Very nice for them to invite a Canadian stranger into there home for 3 days. I look forward to seeing them again. Happy building y’all
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