Oct 10, 2023     Firewall installed - (9 hours)       Category: Firewall

Firewall bent for tunnel, nutplates added, installed on fuselage

  Sep 05, 2023     GRand Rapids Technology sport EFIS and remote EMS purchased Category: Avionics

Purchased the Sport EFIS and Remote EMS. The EMS box can mount remotely behind the panel with signal wires through firewall to engine. . The data will be fed to the Sport EFIS, along with pitot and static. I think the Garmin 220 radio can be driven by the EFIS as well. But it is not required to. We will also have a Garmin 796 for navigation and standby gps instrumentation. We own this already. The 796 will not fit in the panel in portrate mode so we have elected to mount it against the panel but not in it. Not as neat, but more functional for navigation. No transponder or ADSB until flight test complete. Remote mounted so no need to plan the panel for them, only wire runs need be planned.

  Jul 14, 2023     Mainwheels and brakes Category: Landing Gear

Bought main 6.00x6 wheels and double puck brakes from Airframes Alaska.

  Jul 14, 2023     Tailwheel bought Category: Landing Gear

Bought a 7 “ Bearhawk tailwheel from Eric Newton

  May 27, 2022     Engine and exhaust arrived - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Drove to SweetGrass, Montana to pick up engine which arrived 2 days earlier from R&B Aircraft in Virginia. Brought it to Kyles hangar in YBW for storage until needed. Carb is at at my house. Also picked up Bearhawk Patrol exhaust by Vetterman from Sweetgrass and brought it to YBW.

  May 27, 2022     Fuel lines - (16 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Fuel lines in fuselage removed and discarded. New lines 3/8” aluminum lines bent and installed more work to go securing lines. Next is mounting fuel selector and gascolator. Fuel valve may have defective O ring seats (sort of cut up with the tap instead of a smooth seat for the o ring.

  May 27, 2022     Throttle quadrant mounting - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Mounting of throttle quadrants. Modifying former mounting tab because throttle cable would penetrate the middle of the tab. Quadrants disassembled to fit between fabric on the outside and outer extremity of steel cage on the inside. One assembly bolt must be exchanged for a countersink #10 screw . Additional stringer material mounted below quadrants

  May 27, 2022     Doors - (20 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Door panels shaped and riveted on. Both pilot and cargo. Prep and some priming of floor boards

  Mar 30, 2022     Engine build       Category: Engine

R&B has been making good progress on the engine with updates via pictures. Engine is a rebuilt O-360 A1A, except instead of 2 mags it will have one electronic ignition system (probably SDS)
All components overhauled as needed except the 8.5-1 cylinder kits, which will be new.

  Mar 30, 2022     Floor panels - (5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Stripped the last of the plastic film off the floor panels and started final cleaning to prep for paint. Did a little more work on the edges. Made a plan for cargo tie downs in the baggage compartment. Either eye-bolts in place of floor fasteners, clamping the floor and the steel frame tab in between two nuts, or flat pastel plates bolted down in the same fashion, with a tab bent up into the cargo space with a hole in it to accept a rope, chain link, or binged. Looking for 10-24 machine eye bolts. Can use hardware store variety or go with option B with AN-3A bolts and nuts. Front can be captured between the rear seat frame and the floor with an 5 bolts.

  Mar 27, 2022     Floor boards - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

Finished fitting, primed, and painted floor boards with truck bed liner.

  Mar 25, 2022     Floor panels and windows - (10 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fitting Side window panels along top so they will swing freely up. One done, one to go. Floor panels all cut and started cleaning plastic off. Drilled to tabs in fuselage. Tried nutplates. Too much work, don't have enough. Will use for door trim only. Mark G says use Tinnermin nuts. Mule Fulton getting them for me. Cost is for window acrylic and fasteners. $140. Tinnerman nuts $20.

  Mar 25, 2022     More covering supplies Category: Fuselage

Bought more tapes, glue, primer, paint gun, painting supplies, some hardware, fabric irons from Wicks.

  Mar 25, 2022     Fabric, tapes, needle , rib stitching. Category: Fuselage

Bought all fabric some pinked tapes, scissors from ACS

  Mar 25, 2022     Fuel lines - (16 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fuel lines are not going satisfactorily. Used up almost all of my supply from Wicks but not happy with the fit. Bought 65 feet of voiled aluminum line from ACS. Starting over again.

  Mar 02, 2022     Floor panels - (3 hours) Category: Fuselage

Started trimming aluminum floor panels. First two will go in. Some trimming required. Not all of the factory cutouts are well-located due to vagaries in the tube structure. I will try it as is. If the holes in the floor are too big in some areas, I will just put a small doubler on top of the sheet metal panel which fits more closely around the tubing or other protruding element. I am intending to use k1000 nutplates and #6 round head screws to attach the panels to steel tabs on the tubing. Panels will be primed with rattle can self etching primer and then painted with rattle can colour for easy repainting when desired.

  Feb 26, 2022     Windows - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Fixed a front swinging window which dropped off the table, denting the lower exterior sheet metal. More was purchased, fit, and riveted on.

Both swinging windows have the acrylic cut.

Otherwise progress has been slow, particularly installing fuel lines in the fuse. Weather has been too cold to wok outside. I have to order new tubing. Will try 3003 tubing in a couple from ACS. Hopefully I can make the compound bends more easily,

Rear windows are cut. The 2.5 mm acrylic will not fit in the slot between outer and inner frames. Some people including Avipro say pry it apart. So far no joy. I set up an angled table on a router table and then used it to chamfer the outer 1/2” of the acrylic pane. Still doesn't fit but much closer. Prying and more shaping may serve.

  Feb 01, 2022     New workbench - (25 hours)       Category: Workshop

I have been using a folding 6' utility table. It's too small, not very sturdy, and too low, so it hurts my back. Dropped a plane door off it a while back, requiring replacement of some sheet metal. Enough frustration!

I built this new table which is wide enough to support both wing spars simultaneously if required and is about 7'4” long. Made mostly from recycled 4X4 bolted with 1/2 lap joints. It can support toolboxes or large portable tools on the bottom shelf. The middle shelf is very light duty (3/8” ply) for holding hand tools, bolts, rivets or whatever it instead of having them around and under the workpiece at hand. I am going to put heavy duty wheels which rotate up off the floor whenever the table is in the desired location. This mobility is essential since my shop is small. The bench will have to go out the garage door to move it past the fuselage.

  Oct 19, 2021     Aluminum formers, stringers, window frames - (60 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Many entries consolidated here. Several months of part time fiddling, research and fitting to get the exterior levels of the plane established to accept fabric. Instructions would have saved many, many hours here. All the aluminum stringers bent and attached. Many had to be notched or raised above the tube work in order to accomplish the shape I wanted. I started with 3/16 rivets, but Dan York strongly suggested steel screws. I went with two #6 screws through the steel clip and both sides of the stringer in each location unles I wasn't able to get a screwdriver on. In those cases I used rivets and in one case, a machine bolt with a nut. Screws were cut to length and secured with blue locative. Aluminum formers permanently riveted in place. I'm a little concerned about the 1/8” slot between the rear window frames (where the window pane sits) being uneven in width and too tight in places to accept 3mm acrylic as well as a layer of fabric. I read somewhere that they could be pried and stretched apart as required, and Mark G verified this. A better way to go would have been to drill out the rivets holding the inner and outer window frames, attach the outer frame, cover, then rivet the inner frame back onto the outer with the window pane sandwiched in between. I will try prying the frames apart carefully with a large chisel or some other blade. I could also switch to 2.5 mm acrylic panes (probably will) and I could grind a chamfer on the outer edges of the acrylic pane with a grinder to ease the fit. Might have to do all three. Placement of sealant promises to be messy. Masking required.

  Jun 25, 2021     Final assembly of control sticks - (5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Control stick assembly needed cotter pins and castle nuts installed. It's unfortunately making contact on the inside of the assembly tube, so I will have to grind some of the bolt away to insure full freedom of movement with no drag

  Jun 25, 2021     Fuselage on rotisserie - (8 hours) Category: Fuselage

Rod S helped me rebuild the rotisserie so I could hang the fuselage on it. It took quite a bit of playing around to get the plane to balance, somewhat. It's about 20 lbs too heavy on the bottom, or the tail needs to go up another 3 inches or so, but I've run out of Room to do that. I tied a jug of water on it and it allows me to spin it quite easily, so it might be good enough.

  Jun 25, 2021     More pictures of assembly       Category: General

Bearhawk assembly in the hangar

  Jun 05, 2021     Plane disassembled and trucked home - (3 hours) Category: General

Rod and Mike Hand helped me truck it all back home. We did not get the ailerons and flap cables final rigging done because I had to get out of the hangar. I will do it on final,assembly.

  Jun 01, 2021     Drill wing spars and struts - (17 hours)       Category: General

Airplane was assembled in Don B's Hangar at the Airdrie Airport. Fuselage placed on a purpose built table. Tristan helped me level it front to back and side to side. Wings placed on stands to hold them at the right height and dihedral and incidence angles. Drilled wing spars and spar attach points together in stages and then reamed to final size. Aiden helped me build and install the struts to lock in the dihedral.

  May 14, 2021     Moved to airport hangar for wing drilling - (4 hours) Category: General

Rod S and Mike H graciously assisted me in bringing both wings, ailerons, flaps, struts, and fuselage out to Airdrie Airport. We borrowed space in a hangar of a friend to do this. The wings are now sitting on the wing stands. There is some lumber there for building saw horses for the fuselage to lift it up to the height of the wings (just over my head). A sawhorse is needed since the gear is not yet on the fuselage.and I want to be able to walk under the wing while working. It looks like the main spar will be drilled from the front, which will require a 12 “ extension be welded to the end of my 3/8” reamer and the drill bit which is 1/64 under that. The aft spar is accessible from the back without issue, so the 6” bits will work there.

  May 13, 2021     Wing stands - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Rough wing stands stand built (4) for holding the wings adjacent to the fuselage at the approximate dihedral angle. Final positioning will be with shims. Hauling project to the airport tomorrow Tom set up in position for drilling wing spar to fuselage holes.

  May 03, 2021     Aileron close-out second wing., - (9 hours) Category: Wings

Putting the aileron pocket panels on to close out the aileron cavities the last few days. This is the last, most rearward line of rivets on these wings. Also went to see Bob G about how to fix a few oversized rivet holes on the flaps and. Ailerons. Immensely helpful.

  Apr 18, 2021     Nutplates for control surface hinges. - (4 hours) Category: Wings

Daren Silvernagel helped me remove the hinges from my first aileron and flap. Tristan helped me today riveting nut plates on the back of the spars for mounting the hinges. It's very slow going with the gussset plates and ribs crowding everything, but I don't want to drill them out so I will persevere and slowly get all those nutplates on.

  Apr 01, 2021     Control surface hinges and horns - (9 hours)       Category: Wings

Last four days, I mounted the control horns and the steel hinges on the aileron and flap spars of the second wing with nutplates. On the first wing, I didn't realize the plans called for nutplates, and I used AN nylon lock nuts. I'm now removing the nuts (really hard now that the sheet metal gusset plates are all riveted to the control surfaces). I'm going to get them all removed and then reinstall with nutplates.

  Mar 28, 2021     Hanging ailerons and flaps 2nd wing - (6.5 hours)       Category: Wings

I have not done much besides research lately. I went to see another BH project the other day which was very worthwhile, as I met some great guys, saw an awesome 4 place build, ready to cover, and saw a ton of great ideas and processes. Most importantly I got re-inspired. With a bit of help from Linda today, I got the ailerons and flaps hung on the second wing. I'm now mounting nutplates on the back of the hinge mounting reinforcements on the aileron and flap spars. I did not do this on the first wing (just used nylon locking nuts. They are stronger, but you would have to fit the fabric around and over, and if you ever needed access to the hinge nuts, you'd have to slit the fabric. These pictures show the nutplates riveted onto the back of the control surface spar, and the resulting flush surface on the front face of the spar, which will be easy to secure the fabric covering to, and then bolt the hinge brackets to after covering. I'll try the nut plates on this wing and then most likely do the same on the other. Unfortunately,this will require working between gusset plates on the control surfaces.

  Feb 11, 2021     Pop rivets removed on 2nd wing aileron and flap - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Removal of pop rivets in skin gussets in preparation for mounting of hinges and control rods and flush riveting of skins. Minus 30 weather precludes working in the electrically heated garage. Last few weeks

  Jan 01, 2021     Kuntzleman lighting arrived Category: Lighting

Bought some second hand lights from a guy on the BH forum. These have non-led strobes but with led nav lights side and aft nav lights all under the wing tip lens. Yes! No tail light required. Will attach to wingtip when finishing tips.

  Jan 01, 2021     Fuel tank 2nd wing - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Not much progress in the last month due to flight training and. Christmas 2020. I started plumbing the second wing fuel tank tubing. In the process I discovered that the sump drain hole drilled in the completed cover is not located correctly due to the tank not being cinched into position when I cut the hole. I will rivet a circular stiffener around the area and cut a new hole. Probably will do the same on the other Tank cover in interest of symmetry.

  Nov 06, 2020     Wing root fitting, bottom skin riveting, continued. - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

The guide hole in the rear spar attachment fitting got marred while mounting the wing on the rotisserie. It will be drilled out to a larger size as part of the process of mounting the wing, but I was worried about it. I showed it to Mike Silvernagel who predicted that the hole would get fixed in the course of the wing mounting process. I also took pictures of it and sent them to Mark Goldberg. He concurred. He said they had dealt with this issue in two planes at the factory and it worked out fine. There is no need to change the spar fitting. If the damage isn't removed by drilling the hole to the final 5/16 size, it can be drilled out to 3/8 and a bigger bolt used, which still maintains plenty of edge distance. We can involve the designer as needed at any time.

Since we did not need to access the wing spar mounting fittings, I elected to rivet the bottom skin around the root, and finished all the fuel tank bay nutplates on that skin. There are only a few bucked rivets to finish, but I prefer to have the boys help me, since they have a better feel for the rivet gun, and I can concentrate on the bucking bar, as I have been so far.

  Nov 05, 2020     Bearhawk Canada owner visit - (1.5 hours) Category: General

Mike Silvernagel from Bearhawk Canada came over to meet me and Look over the project. He was full of good information. I also got a lot of confidence from his approval of work done so far. He had specific tips for covering the following: covering the inside of the cabin (consider oracover for the inside), how and where to make inspection ports in the fuselage, placing another turnbuckle in the flap system so that both flaps can be tensioned together if desired, (I can do it from behind the baggage department anyway, but must be done one at a time), fuel supply tubing, brake pedal geometry, seating, stick, wing controls, landing gear attachment (put the rod end in sooner rather than later) wingtips, control stick, seat, cabin floor, and a bunch of other items. Very helpful and motivating.

  Nov 04, 2020     Bottom skins, - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Aidan and I finished all the bucked rivets on the second wing, except for a few on the small piece of skin behind the fuel tank. The remainder can be done with the squeezer, probably after the control surfaces are mounted.

  Nov 01, 2020     Bottom skin attachment cont'd - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Aidan and I continued riveting the bottom skin onto the second wing. We also permanently riveted two inspection hatches to the skin.

  Oct 30, 2020     Riveting bottom skin on - (3 hours) Category: Wings

Aidan and I kept going on riveting the bottom skin. We got another 4 rows done, since we have to keep pivoting the wing to different angles to assist in reaching inside with the bucking bar. My back gives out after a couple hours. Heres a video of us after we got our technique down. We drilled the holes around the perimeter of the hatches and added nutplates along the edge of the tank bay in line with the 5 rows of skin rivets done thus far..

https://youtu.be/vPAOu24NJd4

  Oct 29, 2020     Riveting bottom skins on - (4 hours) Category: Wings

Aidan helped me start riveting bottom skins on. We did a bunch of practice riveting first, then moved onto the wing. Hard going. We got one row done. However, we also worked out our technique, so it was a productive day.

  Oct 27, 2020     Inspection hatches - (7 hours) Category: Wings

Installed many nutplates in inspection hatches

  Oct 26, 2020     Inspection hatches - (5 hours) Category: Wings

More work on installing nutplates and match drilling hatch covers and frames.

  Oct 25, 2020     Inspection hatches, aileron cables - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

I discovered that I had forgotten to install a turnbuckle between the aileron bellcranks and the cables. Obviously, they are needed for adjustment of the ailerons. My hardware kit had 5 turnbuckles: two AN 130 and three An 140. The 130 has a fork on one end which attaches to the aileron bellcrank and a hole for a cable loop on the other. The only problem is that these are also required on the flap system, and I've already used them. We pirated them from the flaps, and I will replace in my next ACS order. The 140 turnbuckles have holes on both ends for cable loops. I need one to join the aileron transfer cable at the top of the cockpit, and I will use the two extras for rudder adjustment.

Andre came to help so in addition to the cables, I put him to work drilling the inspection hatch frames for nutplates, and then dimpling them, and installing nutplates

  Oct 17, 2020     Wing skin stiffenners - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Bonded the 5 remaining upper leading edge skin stiffeners out board of the tanks. I will do the ones in front of the tanks later, since I can still do it once the bottom wing skin is riveted on. We built a tent under the wing and put an electric heater in it. The hope is that the polyeurethane adhesive will set up in the next three days and then we can start riveting the bottom wing skin on.
Wing is otherwise ready to close.

  Oct 16, 2020     aileron cables finished - (3 hours) Category: Wings

Finished installing aileron cables, rib doublers, and Snap bushings. Added several more upper leading edge stiffeners.

  Oct 15, 2020     Aileron cables - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed aileron cables with swages, cable loops, Shackles and AN bolts, castle nuts and split pins. Started drilling aileron carry-through cable holes in ribs. Some required doublers due to proximity to lightening holes in ribs. Snap bushings installed on all ribs to prevent cable wear in turbulence.

  Oct 12, 2020     Fuel tank covers - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Nutplates installed along front of fuel tank bay for tank cover. Holes drilled for nutplates all around remainder of tank bay perimeter, deburred and dimpled. Nutplates to be installed as bottom wing skins closed out.

Aileron bellcrank installed

Installation of stiffeners forward of top wing spar cap begun. 4 out of 13 done

  Oct 07, 2020     Aileron pulley, Cable guard and wiring channel - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Built the cable guard for the forward aileron cable pulley. This was challenging due to the a complex angle of the anti-rotation leg. Fortunately, I got it working the first time though, with a plumbing hose clamp to hold the anti-rotation leg to the pulley mount. Mounted the pulley and cable guard.

Drilled holes and inserted 1/2x1/4 snap bushings for wiring sleeve in wing. 1/4” Looks too small, and is smaller than the other wing so I will replace. Guide string is threaded in wiring sleeve.

  Oct 06, 2020     Wing tanks, Checking bolts and drilling for aileron carry through cable - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

As in the other wing, one of the steel fairlead mounts for the cable through was mounted in the wrong spot. I drilled it out and riveted it on next to the flap actuator. It's purpose is to hold the cable off the flap actuator. Kieran and I drilled the holes inboard of that fairlead and managed to get them lined up.

We checked all the bolts for torque and for size. A few bolts holding the aileron and flap hinges in place were too short as received so we took the bolts out and replaced the washers with thinner ones in order to have at least one thread exposed outside the nuts.

We put the fittings in the wing tanks. I forgot to order the fittings which screw into the tank and accept the flared fitting for the fuel gauge tubes. AN 816-4D I think. 1/8” male NPT on one end and flare fitting for 1/4” tube on the other.

  Sep 29, 2020     Riveting wing skins video Category: Wings

We had trouble with our flush riveter. Tristan and I tried many times. Turns out the rubber cup stuck out too far past the riveting surface, preventing the rivets from setting flush. Once we got that figured out, we ground down the cup and things went better. Kieran and I practiced and then we did all the wing riveting, taking our time. Happy with the results. Here's a short video of us working together.

https://youtu.be/Wk2yPPC867I

  Sep 29, 2020     Rivet Bottom skins on and close out - (60 hours)       Category: Wings

Lost previous entries on this task. Bulk entry last three weeks follows:

Kieran and I bucked all flush rivets attaching bottom wing skins to spars.

Attached skins around perimeter of fuel tank bay with about 100 nutplates, dimpled for 6-32 CS screws. This took 2 tries because as in previous entry, I initially used a 1/8” dimple die, which does not accommodate a 6-32 screw flush. So I drilled all the rivets in the nutplates out and dimpled skin and substrate with the correct dimpler, then re-riveted the nutplates on. The tank cover fits nicely

Squeeze-riveted all the trailing edge skins by back-riveting against a flat bar. Trailing edge stiffeners and aileron pocket skins riveted on at this time.

Wing is complete except wing tip which must be mounted after wing is painted. (Wing can't be mounted on rotisserie for painting with wing tip in place)

Left wing removed from rotisserie and mounted on the wall.

Right wing mounted on rotisserie. Pop rivets removed and sticks with nails placed to prop up skin for installation of controls and wiring channel.

  Sep 03, 2020     Inspection hatch again - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Built a new aileron inspection hatch out of .032. Still buckles a bit. Maybe using a seam roller is a bad idea. Really hard to get the holes to line up. Built a hole finder out of steel. It's ok but needs a more solidly attached finder pin.

  Sep 02, 2020     Inspection covers again - (9 hours) Category: Wings

Paul came out to help. We re-dimpled a bunch of the inspection hatches for 6/32 screws using a #6dimple die. They look better, but seem to be stretching the metal covers so that they curl in two directions like a potato chip Looks pretty bad on the 8”X11” cover over the aileron bellcrank. Accidentally poked a hole in the pitot inspection hatch while trying to re-dimple to correct size. 2 more hours to build a new one. Looks ok.

  Aug 29, 2020     Inspection panels again - (6 hours) Category: Wings

Turns out the countersink screws did not fit in the 1/8” dimples because they are 82 degree screws and I need 100 degree. I went to kadex in yyc and they had some. They don't fit properly either. I called Ralph and it turns out that a 1/8” dimple die will not work for a 100* 6-32 screw. Ralph had a one of the correct size so I drove out to YBW to get it. I tried it and it does work fairly well

  Aug 19, 2020     Pitot - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Decided to mimic Steve W's pitot on his Patrol. He uses a little 3/16” tube mounted onto a bulkhead AN union. Aluminum tube is fitted on the front for pitot tube and on the back (inside the wing) there is a short piece of 3/16 tube and then the nylon pitot line to the instrument slips tightly overtop with a bit of sealant. I finished the hatch by the strut and mounted it in the centre of the hatch.

  Aug 14, 2020     Bearhawk Field trip to Villeneuve       Category: General

Kieran flew me up to Villeneuve to see Steve W's Patrol. Beautiful! Also saw another Bearhawk (4-place) in the final stages of construction.

  Aug 12, 2020     Fuel tank cover nutplates continued - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished nutplates along the front of the fuel tank. Ralph I says I should use dimpled AN 426 rivets where possible. Since it's possible along the sides of the fuel tank cover I will do that.

  Aug 10, 2020     Fuel tank cover nutplates - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Started installing nutplates Along front of fuel tank using NAS1097 skin rivets to hold the nutplates on.

  Jul 20, 2020     Fuel tanks - (9 hours)       Category: Fuel System

My first tube cutter from Cdn Tire was garbage. Bought another Imperial brand and it works well. Mike Fulton loaned me his tubing flare tool and I bought a cheap tubing bender which works well. It took many tries to get the cut, the bends and the flare correct, but I'm getting the hang of it. One tank is essentially plumbed out to the fuselage. I still need to buy 90 degree elbows to make the glass-tube fuel gauges, but that can wait. Fuselage fuel plumbing can begin now.

  Jul 20, 2020     Elevator trim - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed the elevator trim lever and then ran strings to verify trim cable runs. Avipro did not include enough nylon fairleads for the project so I ordered more from ACS. I realized tonight that do not have the required steel snap ring, so I contacted them to enquire about it. Maybe lock wire would work? Kind of potentially weak at the join though.

  Jul 19, 2020     Pitot tube - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Pitot tube will be a 3/8” tube (same as fuel lines) to a brass plumbing elbow, to a 1/4” nylon line all the way to the airspeed indicator. The brass elbow will be brazed to a sheet steel plate, which will be mounted with rivets to the rib just outboard of the strut. The tube goes forward through a hole in the leading edge, protected by a grommet.

  Jul 19, 2020     Inspection plates - (10 hours)       Category: Wings

First crack at installing an inspection hatch. Factory hatch is a tiny bit small for the hole it goes in but close enough for me. Hardware ordered for me by Avipro was dome-headed screws-not countersink. I called Mark and he verified they should have been countersink screws. The nutplates he provides at fairly low cost are also not countersink, but it's no problem to countersink the centre hole in the sheet metal with a 5/16 drill to accept the dimpled bottom of the hatch cover. I had to grind a bit off one of the dimple dies to allow it to dimple the nut plates. This system works well. I attached the hatch to the ring first and then will rivet the ring to the sheet metal skin. I wouldn't do this next time. I think it would be better to attach the ring to the skin first, then the hatch to the ring. It would provide greater confidence that edge distances are maintained. I haven't actually riveted the ring to the skin because it makes the hole smaller and I'm waiting to install my pitot tube, which will benefit from more access room for my arm. Not a ton of progress but had to stop and learn along the way, along with coping with an incorrect hardware spec issue. Still, I know how to do it next time, so all in all, a productive couple of days.

  Jul 18, 2020     Fuel plumbing - (4 hours) Category: Fuselage

Started mocking up the fuel system in the fuselage with heavy electrical wire to get a rough idea of tubing lengths, position of fittings, bend locations and angles. I seem to be stuck on how to get past the stringer near the bottom of the door and how to plumb around the floor, front doorpost, and the junction between the front and rear supply lines and the one which goes to the fuel selector.

  Jun 13, 2020     Stiffeners - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Barrows has designed a system of u-shaped sheet metal stiffeners between the ribs at about 15% MAC on the top surface only. This will prevent oil canning of the surface in flight in the vicinity of the strut. This has been seen on one plane only, but its easy and cheap to put a stiffener in so I will do it. I spent the day cutting 020 sheet into strips and bending them into u-channel. I intend to bond them to the inside of the wing with 3M 5200 polyurethane. I glued a few in and also made sacrificial test pieces for test purposes. They seem to hold very well. Someone on the Bearhawk forum recommended VHB tape (very high bond?) but I couldn't find it locally. I need to get this done and move on, so 5200 it is. I just used a piece of coreplast as a 4“ spacer to place the goopy channel ahead of the spar, and then pieces of coreplast jammed between the channel and the bottom skin to hold light clamping pressure. The 5200 takes at least a week to harden.

  Jun 13, 2020     Install wiring conduit and pitot line - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

My neighbor is an avionics tech, and he said PET hollow tube is the best, lightest conduit. Getting up into the nose cavity forward of the spar is hard, so I ran the nav light conduit just aft of the fuel tank bay. It's about 4 feet of extra wire, but a much more reliable place to work. I ran the pitot hose up in front of the spar and it was indeed quite hard to work up there. I only had to go through about 8 ribs though. Im waiting for a friend who might have a pitot tube from a 182. Hopefully its12 volt, which will allow use of the pitot heater. Not sure if a 24 volt heater can be configured to run on a 12 volt system.

  Jun 08, 2020     Rudder pedal cables - (5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Kieran and I built the rudder pedal cables which link front and rear pedals together. Cables from rear pedals to the rudder still have to be strung, but it seems best to wait until the rudder is mounted. Brother in law bob is going to build a pulley guard and mount which will fit in the first rudder cable fairleads aft of the pedals. Canadian authorities apparently do not do not like the fact that the rudder cable comes off the rear pedal, and after angling down to the floor, makes a bend of about 15 degrees, which is too much for a fairleads. I bought two more 2-inch pulleys and we will mount them in the fairleads hole, such that we don't have to weld anything new onto the fuselage.

  Jun 06, 2020     51% and precover inspections - (3 hours) Category: General

The MDRA came from Calgary today with a new trainee MDRA inspector. They did the 2 inspections with very few comments, all positive. Builder portion came up to 76% by their logic. Im cleared to cover at my discretion, although I am a long way from doing so. Mostly, I just wanted to be able to rivet the wing closed, and get the other one on the rotisserie. I need to run the nav light wires and install a pitot tube first. I got the PET cable loom today and prepared it for installation with a string inside to pull wires through.

  Jun 01, 2020     Rear brakes - (4 hours) Category: Fuselage

After talking with Mark G I gave up on installing heel brakes in the back. He set me up with two more Gerds master cylinders and we mounted them on the rudder pedals.

  May 14, 2020     Flap pulleys - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Building a double pulley guard which also has an anti-rotation leg on it proved very elusive. There are about 8 bends required to fashion this little guy so that it will function properly and still mount to the both axel and frame. It seems unbelievable but I made 16 attempts and each time something prevented proper anchoring, smooth rotation, or sufficient strength. Way too many hours wasted on something which could easily have been provided for just a few dollars, like the wing pulley guards were, in my opinion.

Many homebuilder guides and other planes specify a cable guard without an anti rotation leg (seems like poor practice) or with the ends of the guard which are opposite the cable bent up along one of the edges of the hex nuts, using the edge of the bolt or nut as a straight edge to prevent rotation. (Glastar for example) I ended up going with the latter technique for the last pulley-the one in the centre before the “Y” which splits the single cable from the flap lever in the cockpit into two cables going to each wing torque tube horn. It's time to move on. Mark G is going to advise me on fuel tank tubing required prior to closeup. There is not much instruction on this item, so I will wait until I talk to him to start. Fuel lube (sealant) arrived today from ACS along with more snap bushings and nylon fairleads (my wicks hardware list called for 16, but in fact 20 are required. Mark sent the hundreds of nut plates required for all the inspection hatches, and they arrived today, along with another set of Brake master cylinders for the back rudder pedals. We need them for training ourselves. We were going to go with heel brakes but Mark said it would be too problematic to engineer this. We accepted his advice. If we really hate them we can remove them after we are all checked out.

  May 07, 2020     Left wing Control surface Final,ssembly - (10 hours) Category: Wings

Kieran and I mounted the trailing edges and all the gusset plates over the last few days. Alignment of trailing edge, drilling and de-burring of holes and pop-riveting trailing edges on. Avipro specified 1/8��steel pop rivets which have a bit of a donut shaped head on them. I double-checked with Mark G and he verified this. He told me to buy 90 of them for he whole plane, but I ended up using 75 for just one wing. I also used some 3/32 flush pop rivets for places on the gussets which I could not get a rivet squeezer of bucking bar on. I wish I had used these in a 1/8��size instead of the regular SS cherry rivets, as they have a nice flush head which will be nicer under the fabric. I made the suggestion that since countersunk rivets are in fact available, that they should be specked or provided. mark agreed, but too late for me unless I want to drill out 75 steel rivets. I'll live with the bumps. I wish the kit either came with them or the hardware list provided by Avipro had listed them, and in great enough quantity to complete both wings. I have to put another order in to ACS to complete the other wing.

I also needed to bend a joggle in the control horns since the bushings on the pushrods are wider than the hinge bearings. Flaps
ailerons are done now to covering stage other than dressing up the centres of the pop rivets where there is a little bit of sharp steel shaft protruding on some of them.

  May 02, 2020     Flap system pulleys - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage

There are 7 pulleys in the flap system. Each needs a cable guard and each cable guard needs to be fastened to a frame member or strut so it can't rotate and bind the cable. They are conceptually simple but I have struggled with making them accurately enough so they are effective, don't rub and anchor effectively. It's a bit of a special challenge and metal work is rather new to me. After many false starts and ruined cable guards, I now have 4 of them completed. It's fine, but I know that some people could knock one off in 15 minutes. I hope I am getting better at this, since there are a bunch more in the rudder and elevator trim system. And two more in the other wing which have yet to be mounted.

  Apr 30, 2020     Flap cable pulleys - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The flap activation system uses a Johnson Bar style handle (like a 185 or cub) which pulls a cable which is routed through a system of 7 pulleys to the flap actuator arm at the wing root, and from there via a torque rod and pushrods to the flap.

Each pulley must be bolted onto a 1/4” tube which is welded onto the fuselage frame. They also require a cable guard so the cable can't skip off the pulley. The pulley guards are not provided for the fuselage pulleys, so I have to make them. I got some 22 gauge sheet steel at Lows, and also a $30 bending brake at Princess Auto seen here sitting on top of my jointer. (I will need it for other jobs including LE skin stiffeners). It works really well. I cut, bent, and drilled the first three pulley guards. They require a method to prevent rotation and subsequent jamming of the control cable. For the first two at the wing root, I elected to lock wire the pulley guards to the mounting tube using a cross-pattern. I tested the system with the bolt loose and it works. I doubled up with two independent lock wires. It doesn't look elegant but it will work. On other pulleys I will try to fashion a leg which can be secured to a tube to prevent rotation. I wrecked quite a few In the making because the tolerances are tight and I was unable to replicate the first one exactly. Small cheap pieces, but a big expenditure of time.

  Apr 30, 2020     Aileron cable fairleads - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

In discussion with Mark G it was discovered that a steel loop which accommodates a 3/4��nylon fairlead Is misplaced on my kit. It is supposed to be adjacent the flap drive but instead it's located on the 2nd rib inboard from the root. I drilled out the rivets and relocated it to the first rib outboard of the flap where it can hold the aileron carry-through cable away from the flap pushrod. In the process, I discovered that the hardware list which Avipro gave to Wicks on my behalf was short by six of these fairleads. They have been ordered from ACS. SS pop rivets have arrived from ACS. They are to be used to fasten the trailing edges of the flaps and ailerons permanently. I tried several on practice sheets and they are very hard to pull. I'm a little worried about damaging the structure so I checked with Avipro and Mark says they are indeed specified on plan sheet 11.

The inner rib had a 3/8��hole in it for the aileron cable. I tried a 3/8��snap bushing but the fit was loose. Every picture I have seen has a 3/4��hole there so I made it bigger and dispensed with the bushing.

  Apr 24, 2020     Flap alignment - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

We rolled the wing over in the rotisserie so it's now bottom side up again. At a glance we could see that the inboard end of the aileron was almost 1/8” closer to the bottom sheet skin metal than the outer end. In other words, the gap between the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the aileron was tapered. This could have been a discrepancy in the shearing of the skin, but on closer inspection, we think the cause is a difference in overall length between the tripod hinge mounts which are used at the pushrod locations and the bipod hinge mounts which are used elsewhere.

The flap has three hinge points, the middle one also being the pushrod location, which resulted in an inward bowing of the centre of the flap when it was installed on the hinges. (corrected with washers under the hinge mount) In the case of the aileron, there are only two hinges. The inner one has the pushrod and again, it was brought outward by installing washers under the hinge mount. The gaps between wing skins are looking nice and uniform now.

The trailing edges of the flaps vs the ailerons are quite different as provided. They are temporarily pop riveted in place and can be moved in or out prior to final riveting. I'm reticent you go too far with this though, since the aileron trailing edge skins get kind of ��ushy��or less rigid when moved very far out past the back of the aileron ribs. Conversely, when they get moved in too far, they get a puffed up or rounded look from being stuffed up over the ribs which does not conform to the overall shape of the control surfaces which is otherwise quite triangular. We will lay some string to arrive at the best location and if required, pinch some of the aileron and flap ribs a little thinner.

We also mounted the aileron carry-through cable (Which goes from one aileron bellcrank a cross the cabin roof to the other one). Unfortunately, it currently touches the flap pushrod when the flaps are down. So the holes in the adjacent ribs must be raised until there is clearance (about 3/16��. I think the best solution is to make the holes bigger and then use larger nylon snap bushings. I verified this with Mark G and with an AME friend and they approved. I have some snap bushings ordered from ACS, but it turns out they are available for about 1/20th of the price at Fastenal right here in Airdrie. I'll try tomorrow or next week.

  Apr 18, 2020     Left Aileron and flap hung - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Kieran and I completed the drilling and mounting of hinges for left flap (left aileron done already). Flap wanted to bow out slightly (1/8”) in the middle, away from the the rear wing spar. This was evidenced by the centre flap hinge having to be pulled toward the rear spar when it was pinned. Sighting down it we could not tell if the cause was a bow in the flap, the rear spar bowed in the other direction, or a difference in the dimensions of the hinge points, which stand about 3”aft of the rear spar or a combination of factors (most likely). In any case, the flap needed to be flexed inward toward the rear spar slightly (1/8”�in order to connect the hinge. We decided to take out half of the discrepancy by placing one large washer under each of the three mounting points of the centre flap hinge bracket where they bolt onto the rear spar. In this way, we averaged out any error (we think). The flap now only has to be flexed half as much (now 1/16”). Everything looks straight, and the flap and aileron are SMOOTH with plenty of range-of-motion. One wing to go. Biplane guys must have a lot of patience. Tomorrow we will roll the wing over and install the pushrods, flap springs and and control cables to the point where they exit the wing. Then coil the excess and leave it inside the wing until wing mounting.

  Apr 17, 2020     Left flap mounting - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

As with the ailerons, Kieran and I ended up drilling the actual hinge bearing hole which accepts the spherical bearing (already mounted to the aft wing spar). Then we bolted the assembly together. Then we clamped the hinges onto the flap spars, adjusting them for left and right. As with the ailerons, we will set the up and down placement of the flap using the template provided for the top and a straight edge on the bottom. Then we will drill the matching holes for the hinges onto the spars, and bolt them on. Cosmetically, the aileron and flap trailing edges are a little bit different along the TE. Mark Goldberg called as we were looking at it and he reminded me that they are only loosely pop riveted on, and the kit is designed so you can adjust them prior to riveting. Feeling quite good about this! Final bolting tomorrow. Picture shows the boys clecoing the bottom wing skin back on prior to rotating the wing right side up for aileron and flap mounting. Kieran on the left and Aidan on the right.

  Apr 16, 2020     Aileron mounting - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

This view is of the bottom of the wing focussing on the rear spar and the flap and aileron bearings which are bolted to it. We mounted the aileron hinges onto the aileron spar by clamping them into place on the aileron spar. The other end of the hinge was previously bolted to the spherical aileron bearings inside each welded hinge mount, so it's position is mostly fixed. We can move the aileron (Or flap) up or down, left or right, but not in or out. The aileron seems to seems to be about 1/16�� thicker that the wing in places, so we averaged out the difference. From my experience in RC planes I know that making the ailerons thicker than the training edge they are attached to is an effective flutter-prevention strategy. I'm not saying this is intentional in the case of the Patrol, but it is working out well and I'm happy with it. Alternatively, I could have moved the control surfaces 1/16 of an inch closer to the rear spar by drilling the hinge holes closer to their bases, at the risk of running out of clearance. Also, we were not successful in mocking this up without the hinge points bolted together. As it is we have about 30 degrees of up aileron available and 40 down. However, the covering materials have yet to be applied, so that will reduce clearance. Required aileron range of motion is 20 degrees up and down. This will be established with mechanical stops, and until then, we want to make sure we have unimpressed range of motion beyond the limits. I think it's good, as I do not want that tight, ��pongy��feeling nearing the limit of travel. Mounting of left flap is next.

  Apr 15, 2020     Aileron alignment/mounting - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

After several attempts to clamp the hinges to the fuselage and to the bearings Kieran and I tried something different. We drilled the hinges for mounting to the spar, but not into the spar yet. Then we drilled the bearing and pushrod holes. The pushrod holes ended up being slightly different, skewed from one another, so we put one back for use in the other wing, took out a fresh one, and drilled matching the one from the first pair. This worked.

We bolted the hinges onto the spherical bearings on the hinge mounts (steel assemblies bolted onto the the rear spar) then we clamped the hinges onto the aileron spar. It's looking fairly good. We had to do some minor trimming of the bottom skin at the junction of the aileron and flap. The plywood template meets quite well along the entire span of the aileron. The tip rib seems to have been drilled with a 1/4 inch droop at the trailing edge. We will correct this later by drilling new rivet holes and/or enlarging some to a larger size where possible just prior to riveting.

There is a 2x2 stick wired onto the trailing edge of the bottom wing skin for use in lifting it out of the way while working inside the wing. We need to remove it prior to drilling the aileron hinges into the aileron spars . Then we can check the top of the wing with the wooden template and the bottom with a straight edge.

  Apr 13, 2020     Project video intro/update - (1 hour) Category: General

A series of videos describing the reasons behind the decision to build, a tour of our shop, an introduction to the kit, and a progress report on work thus far. I sense that most of the pictures and comments I've provided thus far are too specific and detailed to be of interest to anyone who isn't building a Patrol. I am hoping to develop the blog into a format which might provide value for a more general audience, and also serve to add some context to the detailed entries.

https://youtu.be/DWrUfv5D9Zk
https://youtu.be/AIQxLDTrWSg
https://youtu.be/41ZczBp1PSs
https://youtu.be/ry0s405Hefg
https://youtu.be/m-NC3yaVNKM

  Apr 13, 2020     Left aileron - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Clecoed the bottom wing skin back on, then spun the wing in the rotisserie right side up. Using smaller c clamps we tried to clamp the aileron in position. Better, but no where near secure enough to let it go without holding it, so not good enough for making adjustments or marking either. It looks like the aft edge of the top wing skin might need to be trimmed, but I would very much like to avoid this if possible, by judicious placement of the aileron hinges. We just need to find a way to hold the ailerons in place during alignment.

  Apr 13, 2020     A Category: Wings

  Apr 12, 2020     Left aileron - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Trial fit aileron to wing using C clamps to attach hinges to aileron spars and bearings. No luck. Clamps too big, didn't hold well. Not getting a sense of how to make this thing hold together well enough to mark locations. Smaller clamps required for sure.

  Apr 11, 2020     Control tube - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

After much checking and research on the Bearhawk forum, we discovered that the rod end bearing at the elevator pushrod tube was contacting the idler fork so we did as others suggested and put a couple of little bushings adjacent the spherical bearing and then pressed them between the fork. This required opening up the fork to 3/4 inch. It fits nicely in there now.

  Apr 07, 2020     Left wing Aileron hinges - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Kieran and I drilled out the pop rivets holding the aileron skins on near the hinge area to allow access for mounting the hinges to the aileron. We sanded some paint off the aileron hinge fittings, then pressed the spherical bearings in place. We used various socket wrenches and a C clamp to press on the bearing housing until it slid into the hinge bracket. If it was too tight, we used the same technique to press the bearing out of the hinge bracket, sanded a little more, and tried again for a press fit.

It looks like we will need to drill the holes for the aileron hinge points and also on the mounting flanges for mounting the aileron hinges to the ailerons. Then, hold the aileron in place while marking the locations of the hinges on the aileron spar. Then drill the holes for attachment of the mounting flanges onto the aileron spar, before bolting them in place. I'm going to check with Avipro before doing the drilling.

  Apr 07, 2020     Aileron cable pulley guard - (3 hours) Category: Wings

Kieran and I drilled out the rivets attaching the new anti-torque leg to the old, since the new one was getting fatigued from bending to shape too many times. Made shorter one, attached again to the existing pulley guard with pop rivets, and then drilled 2 holes in it. We lock-wired it to the mounting leg (twice, independently) with heavy wire. Then we re-attached the pulley bracket to the main spar. It's solid now.

  Apr 06, 2020     Aileron pulley (again) - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Tried to wrap the new sheet aluminum leg of aileron pulley guard around pulley mount. Unsatisfactory. We are going to remove the pulley mount from the main spar, then securely mount the pulley to the pulley mount, then lock wire the anti-torque leg to the pulley mount using heavy lock wire, then re-mount the pulley mount to the main spar. It has been a huge struggle to mount this part, which was made for a different iteration of the Bearhawk. Hopefully, tomorrow we will see success.

  Apr 05, 2020     Aileron cable pulley - (2 hours) Category: Wings

There is an aileron cable pulley which directs the cable from its horizontal run inboard from the aileron down at a 45 degree angle through the strut. The cable guard had the anti-torque leg angled incorrectly. A small piece of aluminum was rivet on, then I attempted to mount it on the pulley. My modification requires that I bend the leg around the pulley mount in order to secure it so it can't spin with the pulley. Easier said than done. Still working on it. Wondering if it wouldn't haven't been better to just drill a hole in it and then safety-wire it to the pulley mount. I think I have seen hose clamps used for this purpose too, but only on pipe, not rectangular mounts.

  Apr 04, 2020     Fuselage control torque tubes - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Aileron and elevator torque tubes in place and functioning smoothly. Some cotter pins required: on the castellated nuts inside the torque tube and to hold the bushing in place at station ����

  Apr 01, 2020     Inboard flap bearing - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Flap bearing mount assembly was skewed slightly. Previously, we elongated the hole in the tab in the wing root so the inboard flap bearing would line up with the outboard one. I made a doubler plate, primed it, and Aidan and I riveted it on to the existing tab. Then we inserted the bolts with blue Loctite. We greased the bearings and the torque tube now rotates smoothly. Mark G commented that the .032 aluminum doubler might not be thick enough (original tab is about .040 aluminum. He will check with the designer, Engineer Bob Barrows and get back to me. It seems very strong to me, but if Barrows says to replace it, we will drill out the rivets and make another one, or replace the mounting tab altogether.

Apr 4, 2020. Mark Goldberg from Avipro checked with Designer Bob Barrows and Bob has approved this fix.

  Mar 30, 2020     Rudder pedals and brakes, flap control - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Finished mounting both front and back rudder pedals. I'm intending to install heel brakes in the back so as not to have toe brake pedals standing up in the way beside the front seat. I haven't bought them yet. More research required.

Yesterday I couldn't mount master cylinders to brake pedals because the clevises on the Gerdes cylinders appeared be too short. Mark G advised that there are longer clevises supplied in the kit which fit without modification. Yup. They are provided! We found them and indeed they do fit. Perfectly! Rudder springs are not included, however. Mark advises that they are available in hardware stores, and not to get ones which apply a lot of tension. Just enough to stand the pedals up. All in all, I'm very pleased with the fit and finish of the rudder and brake components.

Tried to start on the control stick/torque tube assembly, but couldn't find instruction or plans showing how to attach to fuselage.

Assembled and installed flap actuator assembly. No spring found in kit for the button on the stick, so I have to find out what it is and where to find it.

  Mar 29, 2020     Rudder pedals - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Mounted front rudder pedals and started on brakes. Some removal of paint required, which Mark G told me would be needed. Little tweaks with a file, a couple of small holes to drill and the pieces are going together nicely. The Clevis on master cylinders is not deep enough to line the holes up with the attachment hole on the welded brake pedal. I need to verify if it's ok to file the washer-reinforced part on the pedal down until there is enough clearance. Alternatively, the slot in clevis could be cut deeper. This would reduce the amount of adjustment available though. Hole is about 1/8"" off so after filing I would be leaving only about 1/8"" of material adjacent the hole. Perhaps I could do a little of each.

Had a line on a compressor. Made an appointment. went to pick it up, and the guy had sold it.

  Mar 29, 2020     Flap inboard bearing tube - (1 hour) Category: Wings

Kieran and I made a doubler plate, elongated the original hole, drilled, and added the doubler plate. Can't find any pop rivets in the kit or the supplies from Wicks. Don't have a compressor yet but I will rivet with universal rivets when I get one. I have been supplied with flush rivets only, so I need to buy some universal rivets. And some pop rivets for the trailing edge skins. Since we we couldn't work on the wing, we started on the rudder pedals

  Mar 28, 2020     Flap torque tube - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Removed torque tube, removed torque tube inboard bearing. Moving front bearing mount hole will allow bearing to align correctly. It's about 1/2 hole out (1/4��hole). Hole will be elongated as necessary. A doubler will be drilled and riveted to the mounting plate. and the mount bolted back in. Mark G gave his blessing after discussion with Bob Barrows.

  Mar 27, 2020     Flap torque tube - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Kieran and I checked the flap activation torque tube in preparation for flap mounting. It was found to be so stiff we could barely move it. We are instructed to remove paint from bearing surfaces on both torque tube and bearing surface. We completed this task but there remained a significant amount of friction. This turns out to be resulting from the inboard bearing for the torque tube being skewed out of alignment; it should be parallel to the torque tube but it is skewed several degrees, causing both a bow in the torque tube as it is forced into the bearing at the outboard end, and the friction noted previously.

The inboard flap bearing mount was removed from the wing and verified to be out of alignment. At this point we are uncertain if it can be forcibly skewed by mounting it in a a vise and of pulling on a shaft through the bearing or if the sheet metal flanges supporting the bearing must be cut and then re-welded. The arrow drawn on the flange in the picture indicates which direction the bearing must be moved.

  Mar 26, 2020     Aileron cable pulleys in wing - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Kieran and I installed aileron bellcrank and pulleys. Turns out there is an issue with the orientation of the anti-torque leg of the cable guide over the pulley. It doesn't line up with the pulley mount to which it will be secured. Mark G at Avipro will advise how to fix it. Not sure whether the one for the other wing will be ok or whether it will also need to be fixed.

  Mar 25, 2020     Aileron bellcrank - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Attempted to assemble aileron bell rank and mount it. Assembly done after call to Avipro to help with locating bearing. Bearing is not well-depicted on plan and was in an unmarked bag separate from other wing hardware. Not sure how exactly to mount it since plan does not include a side view indicating washers or bolt length. Will call Bob Barrows tomorrow to verify intended setup of bell crank.

  Mar 25, 2020     Torqued factory hardware - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Checked all bolts for torque on left wing. Found 2 bolts too long, causing nut to to screw up onto unthreaded portion of shank. Replaced with shorter bolts and new nuts. Found 3 bolts too short (no thread visible outside the nut, including one which was too short to grab the nylon insert. Replaced. Harbour freight torque wrench did not release on first bolt. Replaced bolt and nut and changed wrenches.

  Mar 23, 2020     Mounted wing on rotisserie - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Mounted left wing. Drilled pop rivets. Tied a stick onto the trailing edge of bottom skin and suspended from ceiling

  Mar 22, 2020     Assembled rotisserie - (6 hours)       Category: Workshop

Picked up and assembled rotisserie, ready to mount one wing

  Mar 04, 2020     Assemble shock struts - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Paul Y helped me clean, de-burr and assemble shock struts. Impossible with small snap ring plier. Borrowed a big one from a Trucker Daryl and it worked perfectly. Bought pipe cleaning brushes, emery paper, and automatic transmission fluid for shocks.

  Mar 02, 2020     Fuselage bones - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

Mounted the fuselage on casters so I can push it around the shop

  Feb 23, 2020     Arrrival of kit - (4 hours)       Category: Workshop

Dan from Bearhawk Canada brought the kit. Very impressed with construction, packing, level of completion. Kyle, Andre, Linda and I helped unpack the trailer and bring the plane into the garage. Managed to fit it all in he garage. All the controls, long tubes, struts, tail, etc fit in shallow racks on the ceiling. I mounted the fuselage on casters so I can push it around. The rotisserie will be on casters as well

Cedar strip canoe build by Aidan and Khysa moving out shortly. It needs seats and thwarts and a few more coats of varnish and it will be launched.

  Feb 20, 2020     What's a Bearhawk Patrol?       Category: Research

Nice example of a Patrol from South Africa

I have uploaded a bunch of videos in the April 13, 2020 entry
It's just me talking unedited and showing you around the shop and the project.