All Articles

Apr 3
1 min

Tailwheel Stinger Movement

The original Bearhawk A model had a leaf type tailwheel spring. The B model changed to a stinger. Early on during test flying I noticed...

Apr 3
1 min

Trim Tab Hinge Play

Another Bearhawk owner found play in both pitch trim tab hinges. Upon inspection I found the same issue with mine. At the time we tried...

Apr 3
1 min

Elevator rubbing

During initial assembly we found my right elevator torque tube to be in very close proximity to the adjacent support bracket. I had...

Mar 19
1 min

Part Numbers for Maintenance Items

This page contains a list of routine maintenance parts together with part numbers for easy ordering as they apply to my Bearhawk 4B....

Nov 24, 2023
1 min

Loss of Elevator Authority at forward CG

When at a CG forward of approximately 14" and at very low airspeeds, there may be insufficient airflow over the tailplane and elevators...

Nov 23, 2023
1 min

Landing Gear Oleo Streamlined Struts

A number of Bearhawk aircraft that were fitted with a streamlined Oleo Landing Gear strut have experienced gear collapses, usually...

Oct 21, 2023
1 min

Control Stick play

A number of Bearhawk builders had noted an (annoyingly) high amount of control stick play in the fore-aft axis. The play appears to come...

Oct 21, 2023
1 min

Broken Flap guide

At least one Bearhawk owner has reported a cracked flap guide (red arrow in the photo below). The symptoms were that the flap handle was...

May 18, 2023
2 min

The Math (Gulp !)

In this post we take a look at some real world numbers for the Bearhawk. If this makes your eyes glaze over, feel free to skip right to...

May 18, 2023
1 min

Pitch Trim Tab linkages

Some 4-place model owners have reported movement in the pitch trim tab linkages at the front bushing. The original kit-sets had a rod-end...

Jan 20, 2023
1 min

Flap Limit speeds and Maximum angles

Bearhawk designer Bob Barrows issued an engineering notice HERE. It is understood that the notice applies to those models with larger...

Jan 10, 2023
1 min

Flap Pulley Wear

Several Bearhawk owners have reported wear observed on the inside of the exterior fuselage flap pulleys, generally at around 400 flight...

Jan 4, 2023
1 min

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an ever-present risk for all light aircraft. A number of Bearhawk builders have reported difficulty in preventing...

Dec 18, 2022
1 min

Vortex Generators

Vortex Generators offer a number of incremental performance improvements with no observable change to cruise speed. Installation A number...

Dec 17, 2022
4 min

Tail-wheel training notes

The following notes are written by Grant Bisset of Wanaka, New Zealand. These notes are not a substitute for quality instruction from an...

Dec 15, 2022
6 min

Circuit Handling

Normal Landing Discussion Caution: Please read the Safety Notes on this website regarding Loss of Directional Control on Landing. Quite a...

Dec 14, 2022
5 min

Upper Air Handling

Effect of CG on Stall Discussion The Bearhawk has a very wide CG envelope compared to many light aircraft, and therefore exhibits it's...

Dec 14, 2022
2 min

Ground Handling

Amateur built aircraft differences Discussion No two Bearhawks are likely to be the same. In addition to the differences between models,...

Dec 8, 2022
1 min

Accident Database Search

The easiest way to search aircraft accidents is at Aviation Safety Network. Each report has a link to the relevant NTSB file. This...

Dec 7, 2022
1 min

Flap Handle Wear

One owner reported wear on the flap handle lower bolt hole at the 1000 hour inspection. The original 3/16" hole had elongated and...

Dec 6, 2022
1 min

Tail-low Wheel Landing

Photo Credit Grant Bisset I felt that this landing technique deserved it's own page. The usual landing technique used in the back-country...

Dec 2, 2022
2 min

Heavy Wing

When I was test flying my Bearhawk I noticed that in level flight the right aileron was reflexed slightly more than the left. It flew...

Nov 27, 2022
2 min

Loss of Directional Control on Landing

The Bearhawk is a well mannered aircraft among tail-draggers. However tail-draggers as a group are more challenging to handle during...

Nov 25, 2022
1 min

Fuel Servo Finger Filter

On my aircraft I observed a decrease in fuel pressure on two separate occasions while in the cruise at 8500ft. A subsequent data download...

Nov 25, 2022
1 min

Stainless Steel Control Cables

Some builders that has installed stainless steel control cables reported relatively high wear on the cables after several hundred hours...

Nov 20, 2022
1 min

Tailwheel Shimmy

Shimmy is when the tailwheel becomes unstable and oscillates from side to side, or rotates through 360º usually during a landing roll....

Nov 12, 2022
1 min

Fuel Selectors

Related topics: Bearhawk fuel system and Fuel Management Rudder and Yaw Sensitivity Uncoordinated Flight Most Bearhawks have a fuel...

Nov 11, 2022
1 min

MTOW

The original MTOW of the early Bearhawk 4-place aircraft was 2500lbs (1136kgs) in the utility category (4.4 G). The designer allowed...

Nov 10, 2022
1 min

Oratex Fabric

There's often a discussion among builders regarding which fabric system to use. I used Polyfiber fabric, combined with Stewart Systems...

Nov 10, 2022
2 min

Uncoordinated Flight

Related topics: Fuel Selectors Yaw Sensitivity Fuel System and Fuel Management Uncoordinated flight will effect all aircraft types, not...

Nov 10, 2022
2 min

Rear Longeron

Several pilots have reported deformed lower aft longerons. It is not uncommon for taildragger aircraft being used off-airport to...

Nov 10, 2022
1 min

Tail-plane Struts

Several owners have reported broken tailplane struts with a fracture point at the lower threads. It's a good place to cast a vigilant eye...

Nov 10, 2022
1 min

Pitch Trim Tab Hinges

Several owners have reported excess play in the pitch trim tab hinges. An easy fix suggested by an engineer was to add RTV to the hinge...

Nov 10, 2022
2 min

Fuel Caps

A number of owners reported losing fuel caps in flight. Early on I discovered a fuel cap missing on my aircraft. While flying with...

Nov 10, 2022
2 min

W&B Spreadsheet

Downloadable Spreadsheet W&B Download here : This spreadsheet uses Numbers or Excel, and operates on an ipad or iphone. It contains a...

Nov 10, 2022
2 min

Flow Matching Fuel Injectors

These days many pilots operate their engine "Lean of Peak" (LOP). There is plenty information about this on the internet, but essentially...

Nov 10, 2022
3 min

Stalls

Overall, the Bearhawk appears to exhibit gentle and predictable stall characteristics. Stall Speed My Bearhawk has a stall speed of 38...

Nov 9, 2022
2 min

Engine Cooling

Due largely to the Amateur built/Experimental category of the Bearhawk, there is no one standard for engine cooling. Factors affecting...

Nov 9, 2022
1 min

Aileron Reflex

The designer recommends reflexing the ailerons approximately 3/8" above the trailing edge to help reduce adverse yaw. This works by...

Nov 9, 2022
2 min

Alaskan Bush Wheels

I swapped the Goodyear 26's for ABW 29's. Initially I installed Goodyear 26" tires. These are good tires - essentially a "poor mans" bush...

Nov 9, 2022
2 min

Weight and Balance Accuracy

This article discusses a method to level the aircraft accurately, so that the arm distances can be compared to other known measurements for

Nov 9, 2022
3 min

Performance

This section focuses largely on real world performance of the IO540 powered Bearhawk, but with some reference to the IO360 powered...

Nov 8, 2022
2 min

Yaw Sensitivity

Related topics: Fuel Selectors Uncoordinated Flight Fuel System and Fuel Management A number of pilots have commented on the Bearhawks...

Nov 8, 2022
4 min

Takeoff and climb

These notes are no substitute for getting good taildragger instruction from an experienced instructor. There wasn't a lot written...

Nov 8, 2022
3 min

Pitot Static Position Error

What is it ? Position error normally manifests as the ASI (airspeed indicator) reading a very low speed at high angles of attack. It is...

Nov 8, 2022
3 min

Cruise

Cruise speed The cruise speed is largely dependent on engine size, tire size, and whether operating lean of peak or rich of peak. These...

Nov 8, 2022
3 min

Engine Selection

Engine selection is probably has the single largest factor affecting the the performance of the Bearhawk. It also has a very large effect...

Nov 8, 2022
9 min

Rigging the Bearhawk

Related links: Heavy Wing There's plenty written about how to build the Bearhawk, but very little about how to rig it well. Rigging it...

Nov 8, 2022
2 min

Engine Failure Scenarios

I performed a number of glide approaches to simulate an engine failure, starting from downwind abeam the threshold at 1000ft agl. Then...

Nov 8, 2022
3 min

Phase One - Managing Risks

Risk mitigation The Safety Note on Loss of Directional Control while Landing contains information from the NTSB database indicating a...