New Member from Alaska!

[J. Bartlett]

Hey all:

My name is Jeremy. I am an active duty USAF pilot currently stationed in Alaska. I have about 2000 hours overall in small Cessna 172/182, T-41B/C, T-6, T-38C, and the E-3 AWACS. Ill be staying in Alaska full time here in the next couple of years and am honing in on the perfect plane to beat up the Alaska bush with... research has led me to a Cessna 180, Maule M-9, or the Bearhawk 4-place.

If I could find a flying 4-place for sale that was well built, that would be my ideal! It seems to be the front runner for carrying 3 passengers and gear for things like hunting trips and general exploration, though variability in the quality of the build paired with an experimental status does give me pause...

Its never been on my radar to build a kit plane, but maybe if I knew more about what went into it?

I am here to learn. I look forward to talking with all of you about what goes into building the plane, Special skills involved (welding, rivoting, etc.)? What types of tools and space would I need to accomplish a build for this kit? Do folks typically rent out a hanger space somewhere and build from that? Anything else you can think of that would be beneficial - Im a forever student and would love to hear your experiences and insights!

[Utah-Jay]

I don’t want to scare you… But read through these, I have and the tools etc are all listed

Build it like you want it

https://bearhawkaircraft.com/kit-builder-manuals/

[davzLSA]

Hi Jeremy,
Welcome aboard. As far as building you need to decide how committed you are to building and how fast do you want to be flying it. Building is a very laborious process even for the fast build kits; and it requires space and tools and time and skills you may or may not have. Read my thread and you will see a very expensive lesson I had to learn the hard way about skills. And of course its like anything else of this nature, you can spend as much money as you like. If you decide to pull the trigger on this, you are in one of the most supportive groups you can be in here. Dealing with Marl Goldberg is a pleasure and he will do everything he can to support you. You have the benefit of being able to speak to the aircraft designer anytime you see the need. Try that with Lockeed or Boeing? There are many great threads on this forum with loads of information. I recommend you read through several of them , not just the bearhawk 4 place but the one's for the LSA and the companion. They all have valuable information to offer. I am a vet and my son is also in the Airforce. Thank you for serving and I hope you will enjoy your association with Bearhawk.

David Swann

[zkelley2]

To be fair you can get Boeing engineers on the phone 24/7 if you own and operate their airplanes.

[jaredyates]

When you get them, I believe what they say is "we will investigate and answer that for you for this many dollars."

[zkelley2]

Hey all:

My name is Jeremy. I am an active duty USAF pilot currently stationed in Alaska. I have about 2000 hours overall in small Cessna 172/182, T-41B/C, T-6, T-38C, and the E-3 AWACS. Ill be staying in Alaska full time here in the next couple of years and am honing in on the perfect plane to beat up the Alaska bush with... research has led me to a Cessna 180, Maule M-9, or the Bearhawk 4-place.

If I could find a flying 4-place for sale that was well built, that would be my ideal! It seems to be the front runner for carrying 3 passengers and gear for things like hunting trips and general exploration, though variability in the quality of the build paired with an experimental status does give me pause...

Its never been on my radar to build a kit plane, but maybe if I knew more about what went into it?

I am here to learn. I look forward to talking with all of you about what goes into building the plane, Special skills involved (welding, rivoting, etc.)? What types of tools and space would I need to accomplish a build for this kit? Do folks typically rent out a hanger space somewhere and build from that? Anything else you can think of that would be beneficial - Im a forever student and would love to hear your experiences and insights!

If you want to build an airplane, build an airplane. If you only want to fly an airplane, go buy a 180.

[svyolo]

I have to agree. The reason to build an airplane, is that you are silly enough to WANT to build an airplane. If you want an airplane, it is usually better to just buy one.

[alaskabearhawk]

Yep...what the others said. If you want to fly, go buy an airplane. If you want to build something that you can fly it will be a commitment of both time and money.