Calling All Bearhawk Wisdom

[Bcone1381]

Call Mark. On that call Practice Reflective listening. Read back everything he says like you are taking an order at the drive through at McDonalds. Making your build simple is the best path towards completion. For now try to Find out what the Industry Best Practice is for your build sequence.

Build it with Aux Tanks. Hold off as long as you can on all the other decisions. Save Money. Stay on airport with 8.50 main wheels and a Standard Tailwheel until you've got 200 hours and 1000 landings and can Power Off Spot Land +/- 75 feet of your target line and +/-50' using power.


When the kit comes you may feel like a lone shipwreck survivor floating on a piece of wrechage in the Pacific. Just Slay the closest shark to the boat. Prioritize Family, marriage, kids college, retirement, and career above Build Completion. Be willing to give up social media, sports, TV, news, maybe even flying.

[PilotDebug]

What do you mean by industry best practice for the build sequence?

[TimTall]

Thanks for all the replies! Finally getting my place in line today I am so excited and cannot wait to get the kit and start building. Here is what I am thinking for options, but would like some advice:

1. YIO-540-L1C5 Lycoming Bob Barrow Rebuilt
2. Dual G3X with 3-axis autopilot
3. Tundra Tailwheel
4. Auxiliary Fuel Tanks
5. Fiberglass wingtips

Options I'm not sure of:

1. Windshield -- I've only ever used a clear. How much better is the tinted solar gray or green or UV protected? Does it make night flying less safe?
2. Main Wheels. I am probably going to start with the 8.5 while I'm going to be using normal airstrips when first flying this plane and then maybe upgrade to 26' later
3. Brake master cylinders - One set is included, what advantages are there for adding on the second set?
4. Prop - From what I have found is that metal is cheaper than going composite yet composite is lighter...I'm leaning towards the metal but maybe I'm wrong?
5. Covering - Is there a breakdown somewhere that compares prices/etc from all the different fabric options?

Thanks!!

1. No idea. I've never used a tinted windshield.
2. Good idea.
3. If you need or want to get instruction from a CFI in your own plane you'll need brakes in the other seat. It'll add a little bit of weight and complexity to the build but not much.
4. When I have an extra pile of cash lying around I will buy a composite prop for sure. Taking weight off the nose is one benefit. They also spin up faster giving you better throttle response.
5. I've never seen one. Talk to Stewarts Systems. They know how many square yards of fabric and accessories you need. I used that system and I would do it again. Oratex looks interesting too.

[kestrel]

1. Windshield -- I've only ever used a clear. How much better is the tinted solar gray or green or UV protected? Does it make night flying less safe?

I have tinted and sometimes the it really shows in photos. My experience suggests clear for any window you want to take a picture through.

[Bcone1381]

Regarding post 16.1 What is Industry Best Practice for Build Sequence....

By Build Sequence I mean "What should I do next?" Is it possible that one best method may exist for the Build Sequence? Just pursuing that idea will improve the experience. Bearhawk.tips has a Kit Build Task Map that looks like a tree. But Every build looks like a line....its a time line actually with tasks placed on it. So, Take that map and plan out your strategy.

Consider this possiblilty..... For each task of a build a single best practice exists to complete that task. (I want .tips to decalsre that for us.) The Professional Fabricator might be the person to help us discover it.

The next possibility....A industry best practice for the sequence of tasks exists for the entire build. If we were to make the Task Map Tree into a build line what would the industry best practice look like? How would mine look? What does Colin's look like? How about Bob, Kevin, Al, Jerry, Dave, Frank, Peter? Are there common threads between the most efficient builders that I can discover?

[jaredyates]

Consider this possiblilty..... For each task of a build a single best practice exists to complete that task. (I want .tips to declare that for us.) The Professional Fabricator might be the person to help us discover it.

The next possibility....A industry best practice for the sequence of tasks exists for the entire build. If we were to make the Task Map Tree into a build line what would the industry best practice look like? How would mine look? What does Colin's look like? How about Bob, Kevin, Al, Jerry, Dave, Frank, Peter? Are there common threads between the most efficient builders that I can discover?

This is an interesting discussion we should have more about. Personally, I don't think there is a single best method. I think it is going to vary depending on builder resources like shop space, experience, tools, and parts availability. Someone building in a single car garage is going to use a different sequence and a different set of methods/practices than someone building in a full-size hangar, or someone building in a living room. The path on the line might change due to damaging a part and needing a replacement, waiting on backordered (or even regular-ordered) supplies or tools, etc. In addition to these challenges, declaration of a single best method also discourages further development of yet-undiscovered better methods.

I guess I don't think it would be progress to create a single line or a single list of practices. One original design goal with bearhawk.tips was to have posts be ratable so that best ideas would float to the top, but nobody used the ratings so I removed that system for decluttering.

[Bcone1381]

I know what you mean Jared. It's slightly controversial. It may not exist yet I wonder if searching for it might yield benefits. "By these tools, buy these parts, start on this branch of the tree and Do this next."

I see an EAB Industry Best Practice as a fluid declaration meant to inspire a novice new guy with direction and be questioned, challenged, and improved upon by the experienced builder. Continually challenging the standard leads to improvement.....An open mind is required. Not all have one. An efficient method with quality results that will drive up completion rate is my definition of Industry Best.

[RobinDeMarco]

I would agree with Brooks on the concept of Industry Best Practice being more for the Novice builder. As someone who has never built a plane (or taken on a project of this size before), I want that road map for each step so I don't take too many unplanned detours. Since I'm scratch building, my plan is to follow in the steps of those who have gone before me. Eric Newton's books are loaded on my iPad and phone for easy reference. Having those books, and a plan to get to the end goal means I'm not forced to invent my own path, and should have a better chance to complete my project.

Jared is also right that having a single method stymies creativity and the chance of coming up with a better way to do something. But often times I think we need to have experience with doing something the first time in order for us to see the possibility of a better way. This would lean more toward the repeat offenders who have already built a plane and have that experience to draw from.

The beauty of experimental aviation is we each get to pick our own adventure.

[TimTall]

The mind map tool helped me immensely... https://www.mindmeister.com/map/917081852?t=RSYClGATP3

I've never built an airplane before but I build houses and other buildings for a living. Some of them complicated structures with materials and methods that are new to me. I start by looking at the critical pathways - the things that have to happen before the next step can be taken - to figure out where to start and how to move through the process. Typically, there isn't only one starting point but there are constrictions on the critical path where several items have to be complete before you can move on to the next steps.

I really like the mind map for analyzing this. A builder can start at the end of any of the branches and proceed to complete steps along the branch until they hit an intersecting branch. If all the steps on that intersecting branch are complete they can proceed toward the trunk until the next branch and so on...

I drew the mindmap out on a piece of paper and put it on the wall. Its the same map with all the same branches as in the link above, just reconfigured to fit the page. This made it easy to see at a glance what had to happen next on the branch i was working on. It was also a motivational tool. I could see that I was making progress as I highlighted the task I completed.
IMG_0463.jpg

[coosbo]

Personally, I don't think there is a single best method. I think it is going to vary depending on builder resources like shop space, experience, tools, and parts availability. Someone building in a single car garage is going to use a different sequence and a different set of methods/practices than someone building in a full-size hangar, or someone building in a living room. The path on the line might change due to damaging a part and needing a replacement, waiting on backordered (or even regular-ordered) supplies or tools, etc.

This has been my experience so far. I'm likely wrong, but I assumed the mindmeister map was the BH best practice build sequence. Especially starting out I found it very helpful to identify which things I could work on at any given point, and also in trying to look ahead and guess what and when I needed to order parts. Seems like most of the time I can only work half an hour before finding I'm missing some piece of hardware, part, tool, etc. When I would hit these snags early on it was nice to reference the map and find another task I could work on while waiting for whatever I was missing to be shipped. So for me, I've mostly had multiple task coming along in parallel.

Hold off as long as you can on all the other decisions. Save Money.

I think this is common and great advice. It will probably continue to be great advice in the future, but following this advice in the 2020-2022 timeframe has certainly delayed my build and cost me money. Over this time period the value of the dollar and price increase of many of the big ticket items have not been in the favor of saving your money. I trusted lead times I was quoted on avionics/engine overhaul and they were wildly inaccurate. I'm going to end up with avionics 9+ months later than quoted and I don't think they're anymore advanced than what I would've received if I had ordered at the same time as my kit.

[Bcone1381]

That truth about price hikes trumps my “hold-off” comment. Very Good point!!

[schu]

Let us not forget Airtech Coatings for quality fabric system. Good products, great training videos free on Youtube, small business owner Robbie Stanton is very approachable and friendly to the bearhawk community.

I'm using airtech. So far I really like it. It's not going to be as light as oratex, but I suspect it's WAAAAAY shinier and will really last. The paint is amazing stuff, but you need a supplied air system to spray it. When in my suit, I can't even smell it while spraying.

[schu]

I'm installing an chevy LS3 (430 hp, 365 when limited to 4400 rpm, 1.73 drive reduction, but the torque is what's really impressive) in my BH 5. Most builders will strongly advise against an automotive engine for several reasons although the LS3 is reliable and has had success in the Titan mustang and some moose builds. I'll be on floats and need the thrust, a 540 will lose reliability at the hp I need to get out of it. But it will add to my build time.

I don't have any problems with the engine, it's the gearbox that scares the hell out of me. Also, according to the NTSB, 540's are FAR more reliable than any conversion. I wouldn't run any conversion unless the prop/psru/engine was tested for torsional vibration issues. Guys like Eggenfellner/Viking have really struggled to make a reliable gearbox. In fact, the only engine I would trust with a gearbox is the rotax.

Then you have complex electrical systems to power pumps, complex fuel systems to deal with return lines and header tanks, complex cooling systems to ditch the heat (and you WILL struggle to get rid of that much heat).

People that point to the LS3 as reliable are forgetting that it's never the LS3 that fails, it's in one of the other supporting systems.

[Hewko]

I agree with you, which is why it will add to my build time, lots of pitfalls others have found to get figured out. I'm running a stinger drive for reliability