BearHawk 5 school of construction

[Sir Newton]

Some simple cheerleading! Layout & drilling took 34hrs and that included building the skin stiffeners in the fuel tank bay. That is alot of holes. RH wing is ready to be deburred & dimple. :cool: Now it is rinse and repeat with the LH wing. So for anyone who is reading these post & has seen the picture of Macho BH5 flying showing oil panning between ribs #5, 6, 7, & 8 on the top skin. Imho, the photo is illustrating the loading of the rear spar in flight? Because we built aircraft with an abundance of caution. I have been thinking about up grading the underside skin from 0.020 up one thickness to 0.025 between ribs #5 - #11. Then continue with 0.020 the rest of the span. I would like to have a intelligent conversation regarding that photo and not some hear say conversation. Builder's please ring on this subject.

[way_up_north]

can you include a link to the picture or video you are referring to ,,,of the Macho BH5 oil panning...thanks

[jaredyates]

Love the pics! I would recommend that any structural changes be discussed with Bob rather than with fellow builders.

[Sir Newton]

100% agree, this is a builders forum. Just some simple open dialogue is all. That provides Avery unique perspective that we as builders and owners really never would get to see. Photo is worth a thousand words.

[500AGL]

Bob made a change and added a small stiffener to the top skin addressing this.

[way_up_north]

was this a recent change to the B-wing ..is it in the safety/changes notices..for those of us who would like to check if our plans reflect the change or not...thanks

[Sir Newton]

Hola, I have been working on the fabrication and installation of skin stiffeners. Everything is moving along nicely. Couple pics for those of you who are interested. Any questions. That's what PM's are for. Cheers

[Sir Newton]

Greetings to all Bearhawkers. After I finish off the skin stiffeners I fell down the rabbit hole of final fit up & welding out the fuel tanks. Lots of little dessions had to be made about the fuel system logic so I welded in all the right tank fittings in the correct spots. I attached a picture or two of my RH aux tank. Building the tanks are a little bit tricky. If you have any questions on the how. Get after it & ask. The welding is fun! Been awhile since I struck an arc.
And some of CYQU pilots found time to fly out to Jasper National Park. Really good flight and a good time.

[rodsmith]

Looks great, I found fabricating and welding the 4 tanks to be a very lengthy process. I had a few leaking rivets to re weld but no seam leaks so was happy with the results.

[Sir Newton]

These fuel cells are biult tough as nails. Today I fit up the RH main tank. I hope to get after welding it up tomorrow.

[Gerhard Rieger]

They look great, tight fit though. If I can do it again I would make them a tad smaller. Mine is exactly like yours

[Sir Newton]

Had a rain day today, I got out of doing fall yard work! I got to work on the BH all day. Awesome day. RH fuel cell all ready to weld up.

[Sir Newton]

Just some more cheerleading here. Finished welding out the RH main. For the welding nerds that read this post I averaged 1.7 inches per minute counting 2" per rivet on this tank. Just need to cut/weld in the appropriate sized NPT fittings and a bubble test & wammo finished RH tanks. Also got the fit up done on LH tanks this afternoon they still need the rivets bucked & then welding. Tuesday my 4130 tubing is arriving. I need to decide to finish off the riveting on the skins or to start fabricating the fuselage. 90% complete. 90%to go. Have good weekend.

[Brian Mason]

Looks real good, Bud. Wish I was there to watch.

[Sir Newton]

Some simple cheerleading about the BH5 project. Finished of fabricating 4 fuel tanks & all the tank strapping tighten turn buckles. Finished up fitting RH wing bottom skins. Recieved all my 4130 tubing. Fuselage fabrication will begin after I skin & rivet my LH wing. My post are going to be fewer & fewer, as I start to go off book with the project. Not wanting to russle feathers with the brass on the forum & get myself banned.

[Nev]

My post are going to be fewer & fewer, as I start to go off book with the project.

Please keep posting, I'm very interested in what you're doing. Fantastic progress !

[Bcone1381]

I'd like to validate what Nev has written. Your a fabricator....you fabricators get stuff done....

Your scratch building faster than I can Quick Build and doing it right. We don't want design, strength, or safety compromises. I think Feathers get ruffled by compromises the erode best practices. You might consult with Jared about your off book ventures to see what the boundaries/allowances are and if your have some ideas that would benefit the design, streamline the build, or be a blessing to the group.

[jaredyates]

Going off book won't get you banned. It might get some pushback to help clarify that it is non standard. Grounds for banning include off topic partisan politics, toxic nastyness, etc.

[Sir Newton]

Greetings Bearhawkers! Just a quick check-in to say everything is going well with BH5 biuld. The biuld is getting a little western now! Been some crazy weather around some parts. Hope you all are doing well. Cheers

[Redneckmech]

That doesn't look like a Lycoming!
All joking aside, the auto conversions intrigue me. Did you go with an Autopsru or Robinson V8 drive? The installed weight I have seen for the LS3 is a roughly 100-150lb more than the 0-540 but I am wondering if it would affect the CG in a good way. I have read several reports of the 4-place running out of CG well before running out of gross weight and having more weight on the nose would help with that. Out of curiosity, have you run the numbers on the BH5 yet?
I have thought a 300-320HP turbo-normalized V6 may hit the sweet spot between power and installed weight but there really is not much on the market that fits in the category. I will likely have plenty of time to think about it while building and perhaps that niche will get filled in the meantime.

Keep up the posts! I have really appreciated the information you have shared!

- Bill

[Sir Newton]

Nev, I have never came across any information on the B wings c/g. Your flight testing information is greatly appreciated.
I am using a 10.5 aft leading-edge as aerodynamic center of lift in my calculations. Moving away from the recommended engine installation is a major deal. I simply would not suggest it to anyone who is not certain of their understanding & ability to be safe & successful.

[Sir Newton]

Nev, I really like you. In your videos it is easy to tell that you are a seasoned professional who imho is qualified to instruct.
You may find it interesting to know the BH5 fuselage is 15" longer then the BH4. Firewall to tail post is 204" in the BH5 design. As well the prototype is flying around with counter weights in single pilot operations.
Where some people see problems I see opportunities my friend!

[Sir Newton]

Bill, We definitely could use a different engine other than an LS3. 100% However! The LS3 is the single most modifiable engine because of all the amazing aftermarket support GMC promotes. As far as the posting goes you may noticed that my posting frequency has dropped off. I don't want to be responsible for any craziness. The facts of the situation is not everyone should be building their own airplane. Hopefully this doesn't apply to me! Lol

[Westward_Flyer]

I’m really hoping that the Corsair power ls3 conversion is a success and well proven when I start my build in about 5 years. I love the LS3 and am rooting for anyone that is brave enough to try the conversion!

[Sir Newton]

Hey, do not wait 5 years to start if you plan to scratch build.

[Sir Newton]

Lookie Lookie what came into my possession today

[Brian Mason]

Yer gonna need a bigger hangar, lol.