Oct 01, 2023     Rotisserie - (30 hours)       Category: Workshop

Finished the rotisserie in Oct. I know it was time and money well spent and will pay dividends going forward. I purchased an auto Eng stand and a shop crane from Harbor Freight together for about $450. The crane and stand were modified to accept U-joints. An aluminum bushing was turned on the metal lathe for the Eng stand and a wooded bushing was fabricated for the crane. The Eng stand was lengthened so there is tail clearance. The crane uses a wooden bushing and roller bearings that can be easily removed so the shop crane can be used for other purposes. Roller bearing were used to hold the u-joint in position and minimize friction. The original plan was to connect the stands together but proved to be unnecessary when pins/set screw were added to the bushings. I purchased some 1' square and 1 1/2' square tubing that were to create telescoping attach points that'll fit both the fuselage and wings. The fuselage rotates by using 1 finger and the vertical can be adjust about 2'. The last addition was a metal disk that rotates with the u-joint and hold the rotational position and held in place with vice grab that's attached to the arm of the crane.

  Jan 22, 2023     Seats - (50 hours)       Category: Interior Finish

The seats only took about a year. Seat pans and foam accounted for a few weeks…finding someone to sew the covers accounted for months of searching for an upholsterer. Most upholstery shops in this area want to use their own foam/design, were few in number and wanted nothing to do with airplane seats. It took a long time but after many searches I was able to find Laura of “Costal Upholstery” to work with me on the covers. Laura agreed to make the seat covers and seemed excited about the project.

The seat pans were made out of .024 aluminum and were designed to accommodate 3/4” of additional headroom. Poly fabric (Stewart Systems) was used to cover the front seat backs frames and standard upholstery springs were used for the backseat.

Viscoelactic polyurethane (4 layers of different densities) was used to account for theoretical 22g impact to minimize spinal compression injury. Hopefully never needed. Carving the foam was accomplished using a band saw, grinder and electric knife. Memory foam is much easier to shape if cold. The 2 front seats covers have pockets on the backs, slide over the frames and are held in place with snaps. I only upholstered the front and middle seats.

  Oct 17, 2022     Cargo Door/Windows - (22 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The cargo door skins that came with the kit were undersized by 1/2”. Ordered a large sheet of .024 4'X6' from Aircraft Spruce (delivery costs were about the same as the aluminum). Measured/cut aluminum to the plans specifications with 1/2” edge that sits proud of the door frame. Cut holes for the windows (tried my best to align with the left side windows) and creased the skins to align with the fuselage stringers. Attached the kit provided frames by dimpling the outside skin using AD 3-4 countersunk rivets. Cut/fitted a strip of aluminum to close in the windows. Will probably attach with 6-32 cs screws or sheet metal screws to make window replacement easy. Used .093 polycarbonate (Lexan) for the windows due flex needed to mold to the shape of the doors. Attached skins with 1/8” pull rivets.

  Mar 01, 2022     Taildragger Experience - (99 hours)       Category: Flying

Do to my limited taildragger experience (2 hours out of 25,000 hours of flying were in taildraggers) I became a partner in a Maule M-5 in May. After a checkout, I spent the remainder of the year's good flying days banging around Maine/NH in the Maule. It was and still is a bit of a challenge getting comfortable. I chose the Maule because of it's close resemblance to the Bearhawk (fabric fuselage and metal wings). Hoping to put her on float/skis in the future.

  Mar 01, 2022     Hangar - (80 hours)       Category: Workshop

Signed a new lease with the Fryeburg Airport and started to upgrade the 34X44' pole barn/hangar with a heated floor, new roof, windows, hangar door, insulation....Hoping to have a habitable workspace for the cold months. Work started in late summer/fall.

  Aug 19, 2021     Brake lines/Parking Brake - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I ran the brakes line from the top of the gear rib bulkhead fitting using soft 3033 tubing all the way to the calipers. There's a small amount of movement which is allowed for by the bend at the bottom of the gear leg. This is a small departure from what is recommended in the builder's assist manual but is identical to the methods used in building my M-5 and still being used by Maule Aircraft. I discussed this with Brent Maule at Sun-N-Fun and he said they had no issues with this building method. It'll save a little weight when compared to using a flexible brake line and reduce the chances of a leak with one less junction. I used Aeroquip armored lines from the top of the gear legs to the parking brake and from the parking brake to the brake cylinders and also between brakes. A Matco reservoir will run from the back of the firewall to the copilots left and right brake cylinders.

  Mar 12, 2021     Brake System Design - (6 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Spent an inordinate about of time trying to design and order parts for the brake system. Using a Matco reservoir and parking brake, 3033 aluminum line, flaring tool, fittings. Still need to order flexible lines that'll run from the calipers to the hard line on the gear legs and between the Gerdes cylinders.

  Mar 07, 2021     Doors/Windows - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Hung the doors to check on .025 skin (supplied by AviPro). Looks like most of the aluminum skins will have to be cut. Mark G sent extra sheet metal as this was an expected error. Ordered rivets and spacing tool from Spruce. Door locks/latches line up well.

  Mar 01, 2021     Flap Lever-Finalize Rudder and Stick Assemblies - (6 hours)       Category: Controls

Installed flap handle. Put in a temporary pilot Seat with 1 1/2” of foam to check the rudder pedal and control assemblies for cable clearance. Missing AN5-24 bolts for pulleys and 3 pulleys for the aft fuselage cable guide.