Bearhawk Patrol N357MB

joehmason

joehmason

Patrolling Idaho
My father, Mike, and I received our Bearhawk Patrol QB kit in September 2018. I was confident it would be airborne in 18-24 months. After a humbling four years and four months, on January 16[SUP]th[/SUP], 2023, N357MB took flight with Dad at the controls. The first flight was successfully uneventful, just as we hoped it would be. I took the second flight on January 20[SUP]th[/SUP]. It was also uneventful, but after two hours in the sky there was a laundry list of items to fix and troubleshoot. We have slowly been working out all of these issues and we are very close to having everything addressed.

Being focused on engine break-in we have not done much flight testing (stalls, slow flight, maneuvers, etc.) For the little bit that we have done, the performance has met or exceeded all expectations. We have experienced 200’ take-offs, 1800 FPM climbs, 150+ true air speeds, and sub 40mph stalls. With our field elevation at 4150’ MSL, these numbers are better than we could hope for. The Hobbs reads 26.3 hours as of today and we are waiting on better weather to finish our testing.

We are thankful for this forum and everyone in it who betters the Bearhawk community. Both my dad and I have been lurkers, only contributing occasionally, but we have learned from people who post regularly.



Mike Mason

Joe Mason

Twin Falls, Idaho

N357MB

ECI O-375 9.0:1 200 HP
Hartzell Trailblazer
Dynon Skyview HDX
Airtech Fabric and Paint System


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Congratulations! Nice looking aircraft. And don't feel bad about the four years...I've been at it WAY longer and have yet to fly.
 
Great looking airplane, makes me pine for my patrol kit even more, what issues have you had? anything we need to be on the lookout for? please contribute more.
 
She looks great. A professional build. I have thought about polished wings for a bit of weight savings...and looks.
 
Thank you everyone for the kind words.

We like the polished wings a lot. Dad has owned a polished Luscombe for 50 years, and this seemed to fit right in.

RickG - Regarding what we experienced during the test flights, I am working on a more detailed write up of our experiences, but here is a short list:
  1. Tailwheel chain clips bending open and coming loose during taxi
  2. Fuel cap venting
  3. Small oil leak at front of engine
  4. Airspeed indicator malfunction
  5. Dynon always showing a headwind
  6. Tailwheel shimmy
  7. Rudder trim
  8. Heavy wing
  9. Stalls not breaking straight forward
  10. Static port issues
None of these issues were detrimental to the safety of our flights. They are very typical items to find on test flights. We have addressed most of them, but are still dealing with a few of them. I will post the detailed write up at a later date. My hope is that that other builders can learn from our experiences.
 
Joe, a couple of notes that may or may not relate.
1 - Verify that you're not overpulling it due to caster angle. Meaning, when the tailwheel turns is it attempting to pull beyond the spring/cable length?
- Also, verify caster angle is not excessive.

4, 5, & 10. Check of correlation of a static issue causing all of these. Port location may be in the boundary layer vs the airflow?
7,8,& 9 may all be related as well.

In addressing, Take your time and address one thing at a time, unless it's totally not related. Retest and then adjust more or another item.

Also, Your experience may vary, and perhaps you've already done this. I adjusted the ailerons on Mark's Patrol so that when on the ground if someone holds a little pressure up on each aileron, (much like wing loading during cruise flight), each aileron is then aligned perfectly with the wing. Although the cable tension is good, there is just a little bit of flex or stretch somewhere on his that lets them ride up slightly if you didn't do this. On the ground they will then show as being every so slightly low without pressure.
 
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I know exactly what you mean about "always a headwind..." I took a trip to the Salt Lake City area in Utah (from Dallas) to pick up an airplane a few years ago. On the flight west, we fought 15-20 knot headwinds the whole way. We were there for two days (doing some transition training before the cross-country home), then flew home. Man, I was looking forward to those 15-20 knot tailwinds... Alas - what I got was 35-45 knot headwinds the entire way home - which REALLY sucks when you're flying an airplane with a cruise speed of 105 mph... Needless to say, the flight home took a while!
 
Joe,
Loved the departure from Landmark today. Great meeting you and time spent going through your Patrol . Thank you! Mike
 
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