Bearhawk Building & Stuff
Armand A. Medeiros
Bearhawk. Seems there are no places to purchase pre-formed ribs, or any
other pre-made parts for that matter.
Is anyone aware of any kits for this airplane or and simialar 4-seat
STOL with good cruise?
Just daydreaming for now...
Armand
garf...@pilgrimhouse.com
Medeiros" <zar...@concentric.net> wrote:
>I just checked out the net on everything I could find to build a
>Bearhawk. Seems there are no places to purchase pre-formed ribs, or any
>other pre-made parts for that matter.
>
>Is anyone aware of any kits for this airplane or and simialar 4-seat
>STOL with good cruise?
The Bearhawk is NOT a "kitplane". B) And I think it's too early in it's
lifespan to expect already pre-built parts & assemblies to be available.
There ARE any number of BHawk builders, including lil ole me, that would
be happy to make you a set of ANY parts that you'd like, if you're
prepared to PAY the price of not building a scratch-built plane
yourself. B)) Seriously, that's the problem with supply of pre-built
parts; you have to have a pretty huge builder base for anyone to make a
business case for mfg. of parts, cuz out of the entire builder base, you
have to be good at guessing what percentage are gonna wanna buy vrs.
build, and what. It's not easy. And the easier the plane to build, and
the better the plans, the smaller & later the motivation for pre-built
parts.
OR you could BUY a nice 4-seat Maule; they have decent cruise AND they
DO come with pre-formed ribs. Heh.
Garfield (BHawk #271)
P.S. BTW, struts and strut fitting plans ARE available. They're
"pre-made" and a good bargain, considering the difficulty you'd have
extruding them yourself. I hope this counts against "no pre-made parts".
B)
Float-By Shooter
<zar...@concentric.net> wrote:
>I just checked out the net on everything I could find to build a
>Bearhawk. Seems there are no places to purchase pre-formed ribs, or any
>other pre-made parts for that matter.
I have to agree with Garfield, you don't choose the Bearhawk for the
pre-made components. That being said, there ARE some available, but
they aren't listed anywhere on the 'net that I am aware of.
The best source for this information is Bob Barrows, the Bearhawk
designer. Several vendors of Bearhawk parts have been listed in the
newsletter he publishes. At one time hydroformed wing ribs were
available from one supplier but I read someplace that the necessary
demand wasn't there. One builder has constructed a permanant fuselage
jig, and will make your fuselage for you. Another makes items such as
fuel tanks, control hinges, landing gear shock struts, and I believe
another has a mold for the fiberglass wingtips which he sells.
Mr. Barrows himself has had a custom wing strut extrusion produced,
which he sells at a very reasonable price. If you want a set I
wouldn't waste any time though as he has sold most of them already.
>Is anyone aware of any kits for this airplane or and simialar 4-seat
>STOL with good cruise?
The Murphy Super Rebel was mentioned a lot the last time this was
asked. Also there is the Wag-aero stuff and the V6-STOL.
Contact information for the Bearhawk:
R & B Aircraft
7590 Breckinridge Mill Rd
Fincastle, VA 24090
====================================================
Del Rawlins-- packrat_kil...@cordovanet.com
http://www.cordovanet.com/~packrat/
Building Bearhawk #316
----------------------------------------------------
Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply. Better yet, go
kill a few spammers.
KJKimball
Bearhawk. Pretty sure I saw it in Ernie's catalog.
Kevin
Bruce A. Frank
I haven't talked to Ernie at A&E in a month or two but I also thought
that he produced the ribs for the Bearhawk. Ernie also makes an aluminum
extrusion for the lift strut.
A&E Aircraft
2803 126th Ave. SE
Bellevue, WA 98005
206-746-3920
I think the phone number is current. Their email address is:
Ernie doesn't check his email every day so the phone is the best way to
get info.
--
Bruce A. Frank, Editor "Ford 3.8/4.2L Engine and V-6 STOL
BAF...@worldnet.att.net Homebuilt Aircraft Newsletter"
| Publishing interesting material|
| on all aspects of alternative |
| engines and homebuilt aircraft.|
*------------------------------**----*
\(-o-)/ AIRCRAFT PROJECTS CO.
\___/ Manufacturing parts & pieces
/ \ for homebuilt aircraft,
0 0 TIG welding
While trying to find the time to finish mine.
Float-By Shooter
>I thought A&E Aircraft in the northwest made ribs fuselages etc. for the
>Bearhawk. Pretty sure I saw it in Ernie's catalog.
>
>Kevin
I didn't know he was making fuselages, the fellow that I was referring
to is Carl Adams, I believe in SC. I don't have my newsletters handy
here so this is from memory. A&E did offer preformed ribs and spar
webs bent to fit them, but I read either on the mailing list or in the
newsletter that he was putting the dies up for sale. If he didn't and
is still offering ribs I apologize and will be glad to hear it, if
that is the case. I haven't seen his catalog and do not know what is
in it.
Float-By Shooter
packrat_kil...@cordovanet.com (Float-By Shooter) wrote:
>On 19 Oct 1998 00:50:22 GMT, kjki...@aol.com (KJKimball) wrote:
>
>>I thought A&E Aircraft in the northwest made ribs fuselages etc. for the
>>Bearhawk. Pretty sure I saw it in Ernie's catalog.
Okay, here is the "Suppliers" section from the January 1997
Bear-Tracks newsletter. Please note this is not the up to date list,
but it has the blurb on A&E that I referred to earlier. NOT included
are the designer's lift struts and Mr. Adams' fuselages. The next
issue is due any day now so for the current list contact Mr. Barrows.
Any typos are probably mine.
--------begin quoted material----------
T.Q. FIBERGLASS PRODUCTS -
Bryson Wagner - RD #1 Box 92 - Granville, PA 17029 - Tel.
717/248-1240. T.Q. is producing the Bearhawk fiberglass wingtips.
SPENCER AVIATION -
David Spencer - 1803 Meadowview Lane - Martinsville, VA -
540/632-1790. Steel Wing Components, Alum Fuel Tanks, Landing Gear
Shock Struts. Call M-F 10am-11:30am EST.
R&B Aircraft -
7590 Breckinridge Rd, Fincastle, VA 24090. Landing Gear Shock Strut
Seal & Snap Ring Kit (Ref Drawing #25); (6) Disogrin 9250 "O" Rings &
two N5000-206 Snap Rings $17. P.P. USA
[note: also vendor for the plans and lift struts]
A&E (as per Ernie Heald) is trying to sell out part of his business
and has decided not to supply BEARHAWK parts. Too much hassle, he
said, and no sales.
---------end quoted material---------
Maybe he changed his mind, and is still offering the ribs. I intend
to call A&E tomorrow and find out for sure, and I will post the
results here. (note: due to time zones and the fact I don't get off
work until early evening, you may not see it right away)
I hope somebody is still making the ribs.
Armand A. Medeiros
:)
Armand
Float-By Shooter
They are NO LONGER making any Bearhawk parts.
According to the lady I talked to, they still have the dies for the
wing ribs, but they would have to be made on a special order basis if
somebody really wanted them. I didn't ask what that would cost,
however.
Too bad, though it won't affect me a great deal. All of my ribs are
formed except for the last 10 out ot .032, which I will get to as soon
as my material arrives.
I suppose the pre-made parts (if I could afford them) would speed up
my progress somewhat, but I've already learned a lot about forming
aluminum from just doing the ribs. When folks ask me how long this
project will take, I've just been telling them "as long as it takes."
Maybe I'll finish it, maybe no, but I'm having a heck of a good time
with it while it lasts.