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Looking at a 4 place bearhawk prebuy inspection details

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  • Looking at a 4 place bearhawk prebuy inspection details

    I am a newer pilot and this would be my first airplane. I am heading to take a look at a four place flying bearhawk. Basic vfr platform with alaskan bushweels. Has the 360 motor in it with constant speed prop.

    My mission

    I will be flying cross countries with a family of three plus a dog and as much luggage as is feasible with useful loads etc.
    I also intend to do some beginner friendly backcountry flying with it as my skills allow.
    Hoping to buy the correct plane the first time and not need another as my skills and backcountry flying progresses.

    Couple questions for the community

    1.I tend to operate in higher density altitudes in the idaho backcountry as well as lake tahoe sierra nevada mountain areas. Most fields I operate out of are 5-6000 ft elevation with higher density altitudes. Will this motor be underperfoming for my needs at altitude? Should i reconsider buying until I can find a larger motor?

    2. Anybody have a rough estimate what I would be looking at to install a low hour or fresh overhauled motor 470 or even the 540 at some point in the future?

    3. Anything in particular to be looking for during prebuy inspection? I will plan to have an IA take a look as well as I will be chatting with the person that is doing a fresh condition inspection. Any questions to be asking

    4. Any cfi's interested in ferrying the plane to the lower 48 to s lake tahoe with me while endorsing me for tailwheel?

    Thanks for any of the tips and info! Hope to join the community.

  • #2
    Sounds like a fun trip to go check it out! Our community of people and planes is small. I haven't seen that particular airplane in person, but I'm sure the Alaska Bearhawk folks are familiar with it, and they probably could tell you all about it. It would be nice if you could see another Bearhawk or two to collect more data points before you go. I've seen the plane listed for sale a time or two over the years, and there is some mention of it in the very early days of the Beartracks.

    It doesn't sound to me like a 360 is ideal for your mission. A 360 Bearhawk will be better than a lot of airplanes that you could buy, but it won't be better than a 540 Bearhawk. Naturally it's hard to know when one might become available.

    A few years ago there was a fellow who purchased a 360 Bearhawk in Canada, then brought it back to the US and swapped the engine for a 540. We don't see him much on the forum but you might find useful info in the archive if you can find the threads where he talked about it. It's not trivial to swap the engine, but it's less work than building another airplane.

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    • #3
      I’d guess that I flew the plane you are looking at all over the Idaho backcountry, western WY and to High Sierra 2013.

      It’s much improved since I flew it but if you want to chat about how I think it performed around here feel free to drop me a line.
      Scratch Built 4-place Bearhawk. Continental IO-360, 88" C203 McCauley prop.

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