Australian Patrol Flies

M

Mark Goldberg

Bearhawk Aircraft
Here is an email from Peter Mitchel near Perth Australia. His is the first Patrol to fly in Australia. He also came in under 900 lbs empty weight. Here is Peter: " The Patrol flies. First flight Saturday 16[SUP]th[/SUP] Nov. It flies beautifully, engine runs smooth and starts at a touch of the starter, that rotec fuel body works well. I was amazed that it flies hands off when trimmed for level flight, no adjustment needed. I have a few minor things to do on it now however I was so pleased that it flies so well and is so well balanced. This is a very windy time of year over here and it is mainly across our runway so I have to pick my time to fly. Today its 30 knots straight across the strip? Peter Australian Patrol.JPG
 
Ok, I'll bite. It looks like he built this from a kit based on where the note is posted. How did he get it built under 900 lbs? That seems to go beyond the normal leaving out "luxuries" and saving an ounce (sorry, gram) everywhere you can. I'm not building yet, but am still quite impressed.
 
It was from our Quick Build kit. And he did everything he could to save weight. I am impressed also. Peter is only the second person to finish one of Bob Barrows designs and have it weigh LESS than Bob's prototype. There is a 4 place BH builder in Wisconsin who accomplished the same thing. Extremely rare. Mark
 
He did a lot of modifications which would put it in the LSA category. He left out the counterweights in the ailerons and elevators, but has to reduce the VNE as a result. I think he had only one fuel tank, a lightweight O-320 160HP engine, no paint on aluminum and very light paint on fabric, etc.
 
Neat looking machine, I wasn't sure about the mix of polish and paint, but now I think I like it. That is an impressive weight, with 160hp that gives it almost the same power/weight as a 4-place (assuming you load both with 1 pilot and minimum fuel) so it's bound to go like a lit-rocket.
 
He wrote that it started right up at the touch of the starter, so I'm assuming it does have an electrical system. But on top of all the other weight-saving stuff he did, it appears he used a Rotec throttle body injector instead of a carburetor, to save some additional weight. In any case, 900 lbs empty is impressive!
 
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