J

jcoloccia

Well Known Member
John Siebold happened to be in the Antelope Valley over the weekend and came by to check out my Bearhawk project. I just wanted to say that John was an absolute gentleman and we chit chatted for a couple of hours about nothing in particular. We would never have known about each other if it wasn't for VAF. If you're reading this, John, please feel free to come by any time. I've plenty of IBC Root Beer and your #6 nutplate observation is going to save me a LOT of time and frustration!

Doug: There's lots of experimentals out there other than RV's and most of them have totally LAME online communities. Forget about us Bearhawkers....if you know anything about our yahoo forum you'd know we'd never fit in with the VAF rules of engagement. The rest are up for grabs. Food for thought.

Have a nice flight home, John.
 
John, I am contemplating a Bearhawk for my next project. My wife is from Montana and we want to move either to Montana or Idaho in the next few years. Just looking for an opinion on the Bearhawk and the plans.

Are the plans pretty complete and easy to read? Have you ridden in a Bearhawk? How does it compare to other bush/stol aircraft that you've flown?

Thanks for any info you can give me.

Karl
 
RV8N said:
John, I am contemplating a Bearhawk for my next project. My wife is from Montana and we want to move either to Montana or Idaho in the next few years. Just looking for an opinion on the Bearhawk and the plans.

Are the plans pretty complete and easy to read? Have you ridden in a Bearhawk? How does it compare to other bush/stol aircraft that you've flown?

Thanks for any info you can give me.

Karl
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I've flown Pat Fagan's Bearhawk. I don't have anything to compare it to that's the same style other than a Citabria (which really does make a decent bush plane if you have the big engine in it). It's very pleasant to fly. Great control harmony, solid authority, great visibility especially with a skylight. With an O-540 it performs extremely well.

I'm building a quick build, not building it from scratch. That said, I'm certain I could build it from scratch from the plans without too much trouble. They're very well done. He does leave a lot to the imagination, though, but that is easily remedied because there is so much information out there and the yahoo bearhawk group is phenomenal. Just don't expect him to show you where to put your gascolator, and things like that.

You can now buy a tubing kit completely cut and fishmouthed. I can't remember the company but they also do one for the Skybolt. You can buy a wing kit from AviPro. You can also buy various subassemblies from AviPro. Everything from them is pretty high quality.

www.bearhawkaircraft.com

Personally, I don't think you could go wrong with a Bearhawk. It's a solid performer, even with an 0-360 in it.
 
Great info. I've already found the yahoo group but its been kind of slow the last couple of weeks. When I finish my annual condition inspection, I'm going to start contacting local builders and hopefully seeing some projects.

I'm also going to try and get a flight in one of the demo planes. I think there's one in Austin. I will take the wife... hopefully she will be sold and we can start soon.

Thanks for the info. Good luck with your project.

Karl
 
jcoloccia said:
John Siebold happened to be in the Antelope Valley over the weekend and came by to check out my Bearhawk project. I just wanted to say that John was an absolute gentleman and we chit chatted for a couple of hours about nothing in particular. We would never have known about each other if it wasn't for VAF. If you're reading this, John, please feel free to come by any time. I've plenty of IBC Root Beer and your #6 nutplate observation is going to save me a LOT of time and frustration!...snip
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I met (and camped near) John a few years back at Johnson Creek, ID. He had a bottle of wine that had been through several dozen hot/cold cycles in his trunk that he referred to as 'Two Buck Chuck' if I remember <g>. Five of us managed to drink it around the campfire while telling tales. It was a really, really nice evening in Idaho.

John's a really great guy.

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"Two buck Chuck" is the slang name for Charles Shaw wines sold out here through Trader Joes markets. $1.99 a bottle hence Two buck Chuck :) Its actualy pretty drinkable for $2!
 
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