What would you have done differently?

[spinningwrench]

I think in responding to this question it is important to remember the business we are about which is experimental aircraft and not producing a certified design. I think Way-Up-North's idea was really good and follows what Zenith and RV builders already know for improving buildability. The fact that he had the good sense to run it by Bob only validates the creative process we are all about. I remember hearing Burt Rutan speak about how bouncing ideas off of colleagues improves a design. I would hope in future conversations there is room to explore new ideas that may well be innovative and not squash them just because Bob didn't come up with it. Whether we choose to implement a departure from a design is a big decision but certainly we have the license to explore that.

[nichzimmerman]

Everyone’s opinion is welcome...mostly😉

I'll take you up on that one Whee =). If I had to start over, I would buy a kit. If that wasn't an option, I would have bought every sub-assembly that Mark sold. Lastly, I'm not flying yet, but I already wish there was another option for fuel caps. Of all the tube and fabric airplanes I've flown, I never thought much about gas caps--which means they were easy to operate. I wouldn't call Bob's design difficult, but it's it requires some extra thought and sometimes extra strength.

Referencing the "Bob's way or the highway" mindset. I echo Jared's concern about balancing uniformity among those who call their airplanes "Bearhawks" and taking advantage of the experimental category. I wont define the right balance, but I have spoken directly with Bob about a number of significant modifications and every time he has either approved of them or worked with me to achieve the same function with slight alterations to my ideas. The man is an experimenter through and through--he's building an electric airplane after all! But at the end, each of us will have to carefully decide whether to call our airplane a "Bearhawk". I still will.

Lastly, this thread contains verbal jabs that I hope to never see again in the Bearhawk community. Pretty sure things wouldn't have gone this way in a face to face conversation.

[svyolo]

Great thread. I can't say I gave any thought to the fuel tank venting, or that the gas caps might be a little extra work. I might think about adding vents to my tanks. And I will definitely have provisions for a rudder tab, or trim.