Bearhawk Patrol Belly Pod

[Ladybearhawk]

Does anyone recommend a specific place to get a belly pod made for a patrol? Anyone with a mould? Im in Canada and I can't seem to find a company that will make them to spec.
Id love to get one as not much room in the cargo area for back country camping.
Oriana

 

[Bcone1381]

I have considered this. I want to encourage you, but want a belly pod that is very useful for the Patrol Fleet. The Patrol, and I think all Bearhawks, dont have as much room between the ground and the belly as a Cub. So, I recommend you measure how much space you Patrol has between the belly and the floor in the hangar. Then decide how deep the pod should be. Big Tires will lift the belly up. I believe that Virgil's Five Belly pod penetrates up into the fuselage area. Our Patrol has a the elevator push-pull tube there though.

What do you want to carry? I am starting to design an aft baggage area and think I will fabricate it from 1" webbing. It will hang from the tubing at the ceiling and carry light weight bulky stuff like sleeping bags, coats, pillow. I think if I also made a second baggage net that served as a shelf behind the seat and lid to the main baggage area then it might make useful more space.

Our Patrols have plenty of load carrying capability without going aft of CG, so an aft baggage area makes a lot of sense.

 

[m.mooney]

I’ve tried to convince a friend that makes cub pods to make them for Patrols….no luck, not enough prospective buyers. In my opinion, the Patrol desperately needs a pod to fully realize its utility. If someone gets this figured out, count me in for the purchase.

 

[500AGL]

Anyone that would make one will need drop off a Patrol to create the mold. Names that come to mind is Lewaero, Carbon Concepts, Airglas, Firmin..., none of which will be near someone for logistics.

 

[m.mooney]

Anyone that would make one will need drop off a Patrol to create the mold. Names that come to mind is Lewaero, Carbon Concepts, Airglas, Firmin..., none of which will be near someone for logistics.

Lewaero is who I’ve chatted with about this, Eric didn’t seem very interested. I live close to him and would definitely offer my patrol for the mold, heck, I’ve already offered…multiple times. My Patrol is scratch built, not that it should matter, but? If we could get a bunch of commitments, that might change his mind. His pods are absolutely gorgeous. It would be expensive, I’d say $5k minimum but I’m guessing.

 

[Bcone1381]

I can make a mold. I hate design so I will use a techniques I used for building a couple of Skin On Frame Kayaks. I will fabricate a wood frame, cover it with aircraft fabric, shrink it, seal it with stewarts glue, then apply your favorite composite over the skinned frame. Could be Carbon, Fiberglass, or I suppose Kevlar.

Its experimental so it might not work. You might not like my design. Decide if your intersted and lets talk. How much clearance between the bottom of the pod and the flat ground shoud we want to have with struts fully compressed? You must calculate that using plans. We dont want the pod to get grass stains on hard landings. Lets use 8.50--6.00 tires because thats what I have. (22' tires) The Main Tire size will drive the belly pod depth. Heat from the exhaust must be factored into the design.

 

[Bcone1381]

If we get no feedback its okay. Silance has meaning to me. Its okay to abort the cargo pod mission. If someone else wants to do it, then i'll step back. Yesterday I re-evaluated making a mold from carved foam. The mold fabricator has more control over shape making a mold from shaped foam.

With no cargo and 150 pounds of fuel I have 18" clearance from my belly to the floor of my hangar at the leading edge of my cargo door and 24" clearance aft of the main gear. When I looked at it yesterday and took measurements and evaluated it I thought a 12" ground clearance was not sufficient. I'd want more....16"?

My Goal is transportation at an airport.....so I wonder if two electric scooters could fit into the belly pod....I dont know dimensions.

31" or 35" tires gives the Patrol better geometry for the belly pod.

 

[Bcone1381]

So, I've been evaluating an aft baggage area. My comments follow some photos to help folks visualize some possibilities.

You see two elastic cargo nets from Amazon. Its inadquet to contain cargo in a serious negative or forward G situation. My plan it sew up a net from 1" wide webbing in the configuration you see the elastic nets. Behind the bulkhead (caution for the flap cables) is a 28" long X 18" high X 16-20" wide area for cargo. The math on my weight and balance shows this to be a good place for light bulky objects. It will hang from the top steel fuselage cross tubes.



These photos show the elevator push-pull tube. The second is the Idler Arm at station F. It shows spaced just above the bottom belly skin is occupied by the elevator control torque tube assembly.

Patrol and LSA Builders: consider planning an aft baggage are before covering phase.

 

[m.mooney]

If we get no feedback its okay. Silance has meaning to me. Its okay to abort the cargo pod mission. If someone else wants to do it, then i'll step back. Yesterday I re-evaluated making a mold from carved foam. The mold fabricator has more control over shape making a mold from shaped foam.

With no cargo and 150 pounds of fuel I have 18" clearance from my belly to the floor of my hangar at the leading edge of my cargo door and 24" clearance aft of the main gear. When I looked at it yesterday and took measurements and evaluated it I thought a 12" ground clearance was not sufficient. I'd want more....16"?

My Goal is transportation at an airport.....so I wonder if two electric scooters could fit into the belly pod....I dont know dimensions.

31" or 35" tires gives the Patrol better geometry for the belly pod.
View attachment 102146View attachment 102147View attachment 102150View attachment 102149

I’ll get similar measurements from my Patrol, which is on Desser 31s.

 

[Ladybearhawk]

Anyone that would make one will need drop off a Patrol to create the mold. Names that come to mind is Lewaero, Carbon Concepts, Airglas, Firmin..., none of which will be near someone for logistics.

I contacted Lewaero and he said the cub style pods he's pretty sure will fit but I would need to make a few mods to it to fit perfectly. Im not willing to pay $5300 US for a pod I yet need to modify. So I have a friend who has all the equipment for fabrication of carbon fibre I just need to make the mould from Styrofoam and he will do the rest. That will be this winters project now that I have a heated hangar. I will post once done.

 

[Ladybearhawk]

I have considered this. I want to encourage you, but want a belly pod that is very useful for the Patrol Fleet. The Patrol, and I think all Bearhawks, dont have as much room between the ground and the belly as a Cub. So, I recommend you measure how much space you Patrol has between the belly and the floor in the hangar. Then decide how deep the pod should be. Big Tires will lift the belly up. I believe that Virgil's Five Belly pod penetrates up into the fuselage area. Our Patrol has a the elevator push-pull tube there though.

What do you want to carry? I am starting to design an aft baggage area and think I will fabricate it from 1" webbing. It will hang from the tubing at the ceiling and carry light weight bulky stuff like sleeping bags, coats, pillow. I think if I also made a second baggage net that served as a shelf behind the seat and lid to the main baggage area then it might make useful more space.

Our Patrols have plenty of load carrying capability without going aft of CG, so an aft baggage area makes a lot of sense.

Good day. The reason I need a pod is to carry camping and fishing gear. We love back country camping but the cargo area just doesn't have enough room. I also need to cover my cables in the cargo area if I want to pack a bunch of gear in there so it doesn't compress the cables. My patrol is not finished inside - I wanted to keep it as light as possible. So a lot of my cables and pulleys are exposed. I have 29's for tires so I'll have a bit more room to fit a pod. I'll be starting on this in a few months. I will post with progress notes.

 

[Ladybearhawk]

So, I've been evaluating an aft baggage area. My comments follow some photos to help folks visualize some possibilities.
View attachment 102151View attachment 102152View attachment 102153View attachment 102154View attachment 102155View attachment 102156
You see two elastic cargo nets from Amazon. Its inadquet to contain cargo in a serious negative or forward G situation. My plan it sew up a net from 1" wide webbing in the configuration you see the elastic nets. Behind the bulkhead (caution for the flap cables) is a 28" long X 18" high X 16-20" wide area for cargo. The math on my weight and balance shows this to be a good place for light bulky objects. It will hang from the top steel fuselage cross tubes.

View attachment 102157View attachment 102158

These photos show the elevator push-pull tube. The second is the Idler Arm at station F. It shows spaced just above the bottom belly skin is occupied by the elevator control torque tube assembly.

Patrol and LSA Builders: consider planning an aft baggage are before covering phase.

Ya good advice for future builders. Try to utilize as much space as possible aft of baggage area. I now wish I would have built at least an area where I could place my fishing rods and other lighter items.

 

[Bcone1381]

Ya good advice for future builders. Try to utilize as much space as possible aft of baggage area. I now wish I would have built at least an area where I could place my fishing rods and other lighter items.

How many rods do you take? If minimal count of rods then Consider Adel loop clamps. A set of two….one attached to the tube 28 inches aft of the bulkhead plus one set at the bulkhead. The small loop clamp attaches to a fuselage tube at the ceiling and the large one would fit the end of a rod case. Then just tie down the rod to one of the loop clamps. No need for a sleeve.

With a bit of imagination you might find it’s not too late to safely carry some cargo back there.

 

[Glasfordjo]

So is it worth considering fabricating an enclosure for rods to the aft of the baggage bulkhead? I want to use my BH for back country fishing trips.

 

[svyolo]

Cargo tubes are not bad either. I have 1, but also installed mounts for a second one if I need. If you make them round and tubular, they can also be pretty light. Mine is 8" diameter and 44" long. IIRC it is 22 or 23 oz. Very easy to make. I used a cardboard concrete form as a mold. They are cheap and come in lots of diameters.

 

[Ladybearhawk]

So is it worth considering fabricating an enclosure for rods to the aft of the baggage bulkhead? I want to use my BH for back country fishing trips.

Yes it is! Utilize as much space as you can aft of baggage. Just putting rods and lighter items back there would help with loading the aircraft for fishing trips.

 

[Steve W]

Some of the beavers Ive flown over the years had a long canvas sock hanging in the tail of the fuse with an aluminum flange at the rear cabin bulkhead for rods. Could be made out of light fabric. Wouldn’t weigh anything.

 

[Steve W]

Also for another shelf in the baggage area, I welded in a 1/2 X .035 tube around the frame at the height of the back of the rear seat and covered it with heavy fabric. Great for light fluffy stuff.