Texas STOL Roundup Results

[Mark Goldberg]

Just a short note here to let everyone know how it went. Wayne Massey won first place in the "Heavy Touring" category of planes with gross weight of 2500 lbs. and above. His combined take off (185 ft) and landing distance was 445 ft. Very cool. The Patrol didn't do as well because there were a bunch of tricked out Cubs and Huskies in that category. Wayne's take off's were competitive in the Patrol but his two landings were a little long. It was very gusty conditions and Wayne was cautious in my planes. Wayne had never really done this type of flying before. The other guys had 35" AK bushwheels which gave them advantage on landing. And they owned these planes and were good in them from many, many hours of doing this kind of flying.

Congratulations Wayne. A first place winner. Mark

[alaskabearhawk]

Nice...well done!

[Zzz]

I have the video of Wayne's performance. Look for that coming out shortly.

[marcusofcotton]

What were the weather conditions? Not knowing the time of the event, I looked at the three day history of temps at Llano and it had been very warm. Density altitude must have been high, making it all the more impressive.

[Mark Goldberg]

Temps were in the low to mid 80's. MG

[aerolite]

That's great, he must have had fun!

[Wayne Massey]

Both airplanes are certainly more capable of a better performance. I flew both airplanes pretty conservatively but more so with the Patrol. It was my intention to just show the STOL capabilities of both airplanes without leaving stains on the seat. Unfortunately they wouldn’t allow flybys which prevented from showing that the Patrol will cruise at a higher speed than all the others in its class.

For the competition you were allowed two runs. The run with the best combined takeoff and landing distance would be your final score. If you landed short of the line it was a scratch.

I flew the Patrol first. Both takeoffs were in the 175’ – 185’ range. Both landings the main wheels touched well past the line and stopped around the 300’ range. Being determined not to scratch I was a little long, bounced and was faster than I needed to be across the line. The better of the two runs was the run with a combined distance of 475’. I don't even know if it was the first or second run because they were both pretty consistent. There’s no doubt in my mind that the distance could have been at least 75’ less or better.

Before the start of the competition I had a feeling I was going to do better in the Bearhawk than the Patrol. I feel pretty comfortable in both airplanes but for some reason in the low speeds I feel more at home in the Bearhawk. I’m not sure why other than maybe the Bearhawk is the configuration that I’m used to. I fly by feel not by numbers and when I cross check the numbers in the Patrol I find myself a few knots faster than I need to be. In preparing for the event I had to mentally force myself to fly the numbers and was getting better results. On the day of the event I was unable to force myself to fly the numbers and reverted back to feel.

With the Bearhawk my first takeoff was 185’ and the second one was a little better at 175’. Again determined not to scratch I landed slightly long on the first landing with a bounce and stopped at 258’ past the line. The measuring crew was anticipating a longer landing and were at least 100’ down field. The first run felt so good I believed I could do even better on the second so decided to push it just a little. On finally I got into some rough air so compensated with power and speed. The second landing was my worse landing of the day. I was so discussed I started to power off the runway before they even measured. The first run was the best for a combination total of 443’.

Both the Bearhawk and Patrol are capable of better numbers. These airplanes are Marks so I flew more conservative than I would have in my own airplane. With regular flying and currency someone would feel more comfortable and be more proficient. Mark wouldn’t let me take one of the airplanes home with me so it’s his fault I’m not more proficient

The Texas STOL Roundup was a fun event for competitors and spectators. We had a good time. I would encourage other Bearhawkers to keep it in mind for next year. The event is on the Bearhawk Calendar. It would be fun to see some more Bearhawks competing next year.

Now if they would just include an air race as part of the competition the Bearhawk aircraft would win all three of its classes every time!

[Zzz]

Wayne at the stick:



El Atlixquense (did I get that right, Mark?)

[Phil]

I flew the Patrol first. Both takeoffs were in the 175’ – 185’ range. Both landings the main wheels touched well past the line and stopped around the 300’ range. Being determined not to scratch I was a little long, bounced and was faster than I needed to be across the line. The better of the two runs was the run with a combined distance of 475’. I don't even know if it was the first or second run because they were both pretty consistent. There’s no doubt in my mind that the distance could have been at least 75’ less or better.

Now if they would just include an air race as part of the competition the Bearhawk aircraft would win all three of its classes every time!

Wayne
Good job! Those numbers are plenty impressive enough for anywhere I'm willing to land. Those modded out Cubs are impressive as heck. So are super fueler dragsters, but I wouldn't want to drive one to work each day. What sold me on building a Patrol over the hundreds of similar designs out there was hands down the range. And that's down to a simple good aerodynamics. I was talking to a lovely young lady at work earlier this week about traveling around Alaska. When I told her the plane I was building was like a cub, but about 50mph faster, she told me she once rode from Fairbanks to Galena in a Cub, and it was the longest 11 hours of her life! Fairbanks to Galena is only about 450 miles. So under 4 hours in a Patrol. That's worth a couple feet of take off distance to me.

Also, I'd love to slick up my Patrol (in the far future when it's finished), put 6.00 tires and wheel fairings on it and enter it in the Pazmany competition. I doubt it would win, but I think it would really open some eyes.

[AKpatrol]

Well done Wayne. Its great to see the Bearhawks measuring up so well at STOL. When I chose to build my Patrol I considered the overall performance and utility and assumed I was going to have to live with a slight compromise in STOL operations compared to a cub. However, after 125 hours of flying I'm now confident that I really nave NOT made any compromise at all!

I just returned to Galena from Fairbanks on Friday. It took me 3 hours from start up to tie down with one backcountry bathroom break thrown in. (In the interest of full disclosure, I think the distance is closer to 300 miles.)

[Phil]

Will you be bringing the Patrol to Valdez this spring? I still trying to decide if I'll go this year or not, but if there's a Patrol competing, I'll definitely be there.

[AKpatrol]

Phil,
My airplane and I will be at the Alaska Airman's Tradeshow. I won't be competing in this years STOL competition in Valdez but there is a slight possibility that I'll go and check out the scene.

[Rob.Burger]

Found this over at BackCountryPilot.org, is this your video Zzz? - Great video of the 4-Place and the Patrol http://vimeo.com/92682484

" Austin locals Bearhawk Aircraft competed in the first annual Texas STOL Round Up competition in Llano this April, taking first place in the Heavy Touring class, piloted by Bearhawk scratch builder Wayne Massey.
Not only can the Riblett airfoil Bearhawks perform well at STOL speeds, but they can go 150mph as well. That's an incredible speed performance envelope."