BearHawk 5 school of construction

[Sir Newton]

Hello everyone who reads this message of general cheerleading the project on. We have now moved on to rib placement between the spars ! This is how I set my spars up on welding stands that can be adjusted for height as required. I am using a self leveling lazar level to set up the assembly. I happy to report the spars are straight measurable deflection is less then 1.5 mm overall end to end. This wing is far straighter then any Cessna wing. Today I trimmed and set #8 & #1 rib. Forgot to take pictures before I left the shop. I will post more asap. Any questions you want to ask. Feel free.

[geraldmorrissey]

How did you locate your compression struts?
Gerry
Patrol #30

[Sir Newton]

The positions are station B & D. Basically they are simple mock ups of the aileron & flap drive linkage. Dwg: 11B

[Sir Newton]

People may start calling this a aircraft wing!
I haven't been posting much with spring coming to Rocky Mountain Peace Country I have chores around the homestead, rototilling the garden, raking up last year's leaves, putting a new roof on the south side of the barn the list is endless. I just want to build airplane all day kinda like being a teenager!

[Sir Newton]

Hola Bearhawkers. This past while been working on the HoneyDo list However we have 4 days of rain forecast! SO Back on the Bearhawk. Finished fitting all the main ribs in the RH wing & built the jig for the nose ribs as per Big Bob Barrows builder's manual. Works like a charm. Keep it square & straight & nose ribs should take 15-20 minutes per ribs. LH wing should go of with out a hitch. Attached are some pictures of the set up.

[Sir Newton]

Jig works like charm. Hats Off Big Bob. Had make a spacer block out of MDF for the 3 LH/RH reversed flange ribs.

[geraldmorrissey]

Looking good Sir Newton. Keep the pictures coming.
Gerry
Patrol #30

[Sir Newton]

Cheerleading update pictures for my BH5 wings. Simply been busy riveting structures, building the skinning jig, & fabricating fuel tank bay false spar. Purchased new shortie rivet gun from YardStore. Two thumbs for those tight spots around false spars!
Hope your all enjoying your projects as much as I am.

[way_up_north]

Love the pics …great progress…. Thanks for posting

[Sir Newton]

Fuel Tanks & fuels tank parts! Whorah! 2 mains & 1 aux to fit up. Gota start drinking beer now. Need a buzz to start welding ;-)

[Sir Newton]

Just some more Bearhawk cheerleading. GO BEARHAWK GO! Right & left wing super structures fabricating is now complete. Simple riveting left now. There are many little very! time consuming task to get the wings truly to this stage. I had no idea. Fuel tanks are a work in progress, basically they need to be welded & tested. I am estimating 80 US gallons in the wings. Gona start cutting skins & building a nose forming vacuum jig. Any comments are welcome. Cheers to all from GP Alberta Canada.

[way_up_north]

Thanks for posting these great pics

maybe you mentioned it already somewhere else...I noticed you didn't put any holes in the small ribs behind the tank...was wondering your thoughts on what you're going to do there..

[Sir Newton]

Commendable observation. In hindsight, I would abandon the D hole out right. Enlarging main tank by estimated 3 US gallons. I left that corridor large enough to accommodate flap torque tube.

[davzLSA]

Looking good man!!!

[Sir Newton]

Biult a 49" wide nose forming roller for wing skins, very simple to build. 1" 1/2 & 2" pipe that rotate about one & other with a 0.060 clearance between the two pipes. The pipes are also interchangeable should you require a tighter radius. Forms the nose skin perfectly square in seconds. 7skins per wing 14 skins total. Ignore the unprofessional messy work area!

[Sir Newton]

A milestone has been reached today. Both wing superstructures have had every single 470 rivet bucked & both wings were placed into the skinning jig! Finally!! 996 man hours spent to get to this stage.
Wow 90% complete 90% to go!

[Gerhard Rieger]

Well done. You are progressing well, enjoy

[Sir Newton]

Thank you for the kind words. I am having a great time & learning new things along the way.

[Sir Newton]

Just more general cheerleading about the Bearhawk project. RH wing has skin installed. Now I just have the simple lay out and about 1000 holes to drill & dimple. Skinning the wing is a snap with that wing skin roller I fabbed up. I used a 5/16 tipping die to roll the edges of each skin. The skins lay very nicely up against each other on the one good side. I tried to take a picture of of the tipped edge. Any questions ask away, Love talking Bearhawk.

[Sir Newton]

100% ! I am trying to figure a technique to remove 1" strips of plastic off easily. Without scratching the shine surface finish.

[rodsmith]

Lots of people use a soldering iron to strip the rivet lines.

[Sir Newton]

Genius ! I have a heat gun! Brilliant that will work like a hot dam. Thank you for that drop of ingenuity. "20 hrs per wing" Experience speaks!

[Sir Newton]

Some more BearHawk cheerleading. I have fitted the main wing skins on both wings, using to different procedures. 1st wing RH I only used 3 clecos to mount the skins, the 2nd LH wing I used 5 clecos 2 extra clecos around the nose. There was very little difference in the out come between the two technics. I could only pull the skins so tight. I used 4 - 20lb weights with bungee cords to assist in holding the skins tight while I lined them up with the ribs & do not forget to cross square the wing 1st. Pictures attached of RH/LH wings that have no measurable deficiencies of any kind. Now I am pulling off the plastic & continuing on with rivet layout, drilling & dimpling. This task could take awhile. Best regards to everyone.