Bearhawk Aircraft Bearhawk Tailwheels LLC Eric Newton's Builder Manuals Bearhawk Plans Bearhawk Store

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Fuelling up your Bearhawk

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Fuelling up your Bearhawk

    Hi guys going through all the posts on the forum....and questions poped up

    can you gas up without a ladder? Was looking at the gas cap location. Can you reach it from the ground to look into it like a Cessna? Or do you do a reach and feel to get the cap off and drop the nozzle in...what does a typical gas up look like

    since the wing only has 1 degree of dihedral. Anyone moved the gas cap to the inboard corner so you could put a step on the strut to get up on the wing, you're not loosing that much capacity?

  • #2
    No hope for fueling without some type of ladder in my experuence.

    Comment


    • #3
      I was standing atop my little 850x6 tires this evening and thought about this question. I reached over and could touch the fuel cap. It would be a stretch but I could fuel the plane without a ladder. Big tires would make it easier. Fuel steps as found on a Cessna would be helpful if big tires aren't your thing.
      Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.

      Comment


      • #4
        Jared is right. In my humble but accurate opinion, a 5’-6’ step ladder is a must, not optional. The Bob/Avipro fuel caps are not the easiest to use; mine sometimes take both hands and eyes-on in order to manipulate. Also need to be able to look down into the tank to verify fuel level to prevent overfilling and creating a mess.

        Moving the tank inlet to the inboard side would reduce effective tank capacity and increase the chance of splashing fuel onto the windshield.

        Comment


        • way_up_north
          way_up_north commented
          Editing a comment
          I've not seen the wing strut extrusion...is it very robust? As in if someone put a step on it 1/3 the way up from the bottom is it strong enough to support a fat guy?...I know not very scientific...lol

          Was thinking a good compromise would be to move the gas cap mid way....then have a step method to get up on the wing like the Cessna has....I'm planing on having an auto conversion, so carrying plastic gas jugs might be in my future

          Or a gas trailer, I like the idea of getting up on the wing without extra hardware...just a thought as I peruse the posts on here and the old Yahoo group
          Last edited by way_up_north; 12-08-2018, 09:54 AM.

      • #5
        I believe the struts are same as Cessna 170.
        You should read the comments in the forum re auto conversions.

        Comment


        • #6
          Easily done with the right technique!
          I stand on the tire and put my knee on the wing strut. I haven't needed a ladder in years.

          Those with tires less than 26" and stature less than 6' need not apply the above.

          Comment


          • #7
            How about a rope ladder/sling/step hung from the tie-down ring? ...not sure if I could get stable enough to do anything once up/in it?

            Comment


            • Bdflies
              Bdflies commented
              Editing a comment
              Please post a video of this!! Please!!

              Bill

          • #8
            Amazon sells a 3-step aluminum ladder rated for well over 300 lbs that weighs next to nothing, and fits easily in the baggage area.
            Jim Parker
            Farmersville, TX (NE of Dallas)
            RANS S-6ES (E-LSA) with Rotax 912ULS (100 HP)

            Comment

            Working...
            X