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New Bob Barrows video - How and Why He Designs Planes the Way He Does

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  • New Bob Barrows video - How and Why He Designs Planes the Way He Does

    When Bob was visiting Texas last May, we had some video guys come and shoot some video of Bob talking about why he designs planes the way he does. Questions we are asked all the time. No better way to understand than to hear Bob's explanations in his own words:



    Hope you enjoy the video. Mark

  • #2
    Enjoyed the video,very informative. Thanks Mark

    Comment


    • #3
      I enjoyed it too. Until a year ago the last time I was involved in GA was 1982. I went to Oshkosh a couple of times, and saw the prototypes of the RV-4, Glasair, and Lancair. In my mind, I saw brilliant designs. I couldn't do better on my best day, About a year and a half ago i was shopping bush planes, and I came across a reference to a Bearhawk. 30 seconds later I was learning about it.

      I actually consider it as good or better than a Glasair or Lancair. The brilliance of design and engineering is different than invention. It is the art of compromise. Burt Rutan and Paul Mccready could take a single variable and create an airframe that could do 1 thing better than any other. I am a fan of both. But I think I even more a fan of someone who can make 1 airframe do 100 things really well.

      Aviation enthusiasts hold Rutan, Mccready,Kelly Johnson, etc in great regard. As a lifelong aviation enthusiast, and participant, I would rate Bob as really up there. There is no award for what he designed. But his designs speak for themselves.

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      • #4
        I just saw it pop up by chance and really enjoyed it...I do a Bearhawk search to see if anything new is posted...was coming here to post a thread about a great new video ....very well done

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        • #5
          Mark, Thanks for putting this together.

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          • #6
            I thoroughly enjoyed the video. Always interesting to hear Bobs perspective on things. Thanks for producing and sharing.
            Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.

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            • #7
              Great video! I enjoyed hearing why he made some of the decisions he made in the design.

              Comment


              • #8
                Thanks for posting Mark. I enjoyed watching this.

                The safety factor approach, kind of like impedance matching, made sense but I had never thought of it that way. We deal with so many minuscule engineering challenges at work when the whole time we have these first-order failures that aren't getting attention. Hmm.

                Also appreciated his take on the airfoil that elevated the advantage far more than I imagined; not just an aerodynamic feature but something that probably saves lives.
                Mark
                Scratch building Patrol #275
                Hood River, OR

                Comment


                • Mark Goldberg
                  Mark Goldberg commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Bob was very emphatic about the Riblett airfoils and his thoughts on other, in his opinion, inferior airfoils. We had to delete some of his comments in order not to offend owners of several different planes. But his point is still made. Mark

              • #9
                Originally posted by Chewie View Post
                Thanks for posting Mark. I enjoyed watching this.

                The safety factor approach, kind of like impedance matching, made sense but I had never thought of it that way. We deal with so many minuscule engineering challenges at work when the whole time we have these first-order failures that aren't getting attention. Hmm.

                Also appreciated his take on the airfoil that elevated the advantage far more than I imagined; not just an aerodynamic feature but something that probably saves lives.
                When Bob was talking about the Riblett airfoil and the safety, he mentioned a "smooth stall" I think is what he said - can somebody educate me on what that is? Thanks, Steve

                Comment


                • jaredyates
                  jaredyates commented
                  Editing a comment
                  He was saying "moose stall" but I agree it could be heard as smooth. I know this from having heard him talk about it previously.

              • #10
                A "moose stall" is what happens from time to time when someone is low and slow, circling a moose on the ground. It is generally an incipient spin with the inside wing dropping first, and too low for recovery. I'm not a fan of the term because stalls are stalls and they can happen when straight or when turning. ...and when turning either the inside or outside wing can drop first. The moose doesn't effect the aerodynamics of the event.

                I am a fan of Bob's work and the video/interview is fantastic! Svyolo's comments are dead on and, IMHO, they apply to RV's also. Both Bearhawks and RV's are airplanes that aren't in first place for any specific category, but are in the top 3 for many categories. That makes them great airplanes.

                Comment


                • svyolo
                  svyolo commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Way back when I was interested in my youth, I remember Vans talking about "total performance". He was proud of the fact that the RV-3 and 4 had a top speed about 4 times the stall speed. Few airplanes get close to that, at least in terms of IAS. Jets do it but only at high altitude with TAS, indicated still being fairly low.

                  The 4 place and Patrol are about 4.5 to 1, with a 540 powered BH a bit more, but I don't count that as no one flies that way on a regular basis. I can't think of another light aircraft that does this. Maybe a Maule comes close. A few of the very high powered Mooney's might also get to 4 to 1. 4.5 to 1? Only a BH or Patrol. Bob is the champ.

                • JimParker256
                  JimParker256 commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Svyolo,

                  I was about to comment on that very thing: Van's concept of "Total Performance"... That's a big reason I'm building a Patrol. With almost 200 hours in Grumman aircraft (the 160-HP Traveler I owned and several different flying club owned 180-HP Tigers), the "big draw" for those planes was that they are faster (by far) than ther Cessna/Piper compatriots. My Traveler would cruise at 130 ktas, wide open. TIgers cruise at 135-140, depending on how hard you push on the throttle. But they are NOT great performers when it comes to climb rate (400-700 fpm is typical), and they tend to use more runway than the Cessna/Piper crowd.

                  On the other end of the spectrum, the SuperCub (and its peers) take off in much shorter distances, and climb far better, but the top speed is ridiculously slow. Low and slow can be a lot of fun for weekend flying, but when you want to actually go somewhere, those planes would be a real PITA (literally and figuratively).

                  Enter the Patrol... Room for two big people and their baggage, takes off and lands like a SuperCub, and cruises at pretty much the same speeds as a TIger. For those "low and slow" weekend fun flights, throttle back to 100-105 mph (still faster than the SuperCub crowd) and fly for WAY longer than my bladder will allow. But when you want to go to OSH or Sun-N-Fun, you can crank the power up and leave the Cessna/Piper crowd behind, keeping pace with the Grummans. Now THAT's what I call "Total Performance"...

              • #11
                The Anchorage Daily News discusses the "Moose-Turn Stall" with a video from the NTSB: https://www.adn.com/bush-pilot/artic...eo/2013/09/12/
                Rob Caldwell
                Lake Norman Airpark (14A), North Carolina
                EAA Chapter 309
                Model B Quick Build Kit Serial # 11B-24B / 25B
                YouTube Channel: http://bearhawklife.video
                1st Flight May 18, 2021

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