+++ #596 Subject: Re: bd From: Russ Erb > does anyone know where i can get a copy of the article about the > bearhawk.and does anyone have pics of the interior of the > bearhawk,like the instrument panel. If you are a member of EAA you can order reprints of articles in the member's only section at www.eaa.org. +++ #893 Subject: Bingelis Books From: Russ Erb > Question on which book from Tony Bingelis is better suited to > construction. > "The Sportplane Builder" or "Sportplane Construction Techniques"? The > descriptions are very simular and it's difficult to tell which to by > (bearhawk building-wise). > My quess is the "Construction Tech" book. But I don't want to buy the > wrong one. Any suggestions? My response is you need all four. The material is different in each book. Think of them as four volumes of one book. If you want a recommendation on which to buy first (if you're not going to get them all at once), I use "Sportplane Construction Techniques" the most. +++ #896 Subject: Re: Bingelis Books From: Tony Dean I have the first three books and they are all different. Of course Firewall Forward stands out a bit more :-) All his books are generally recommended for any builders library. +++ #902 Subject: Tony's books From: Bill Cox Check your January Sport Aviation They have a nice price on all 4 books bought at once. My copy of Sportplane Builder is so old it's almost a collectors item and I still refer to it. Although there is some overlap all 4 books have excellent information that is easy to find and use. The books will save you many hours of frustration. +++ #952 Subject: Tony's Books From: Tim Cramb You won't be disappointed with Tony's book's basically everything in homebuilding is covered. Well I finally got around to his newer installment. I spent two hours looking #4 of the series, TB on Engines....A good Chapter #8 on fuel system and goes in-depth on Aluminum fuel tank construction/repair etc... Another good point for building a BHawk is the potential for good resale value. It would be interesting to see what the prototype would go for...? Mike, have you or Bob (while at Airshows) ever been approached with an monetary offer $$$ to sell????? +++ #2519 From: Daniel Fox Subject: Re: [Bearhawk] Can I build it? Sorry to be coming in a couple days late on this thread. Another resource you can look into is the EAA SportAir Academy (www.sportair.com). This is Ron Alexander's company (he used to have a parts company which name escapes me now - it got swallowed by the bigger fish and is now Aircraft Spruce East, or some such). It runs a series of weekend seminars in various locations across the country. They have titles like "Intro to Homebuilding", "Welding for the Homebuilder", "Basic Aircraft Fabric Covering Techniques", "Aircraft Sheet Metal Work" and the like (I'm paraphrasing here). For $250 - $300 plus any travel and lodging you might incur, it's a GREAT way to get your feet wet and build experience and confidence in the tools & techniques needed. I'm attending my 3rd in a few weeks. That having been said, I will repeat the mantra everyone else is telling you. It's not "location, location, location", it's not "The Economy, Stupid!", it's "Join your local EAA chapter, Join your local EAA chapter, Join your local EAA chapter!" Usual disclaimers: I have no financial interest in either Sportair or the EAA (except to send them money from time to time). I will state that Sportair offers discounts both to EAA members, and to Sportair alumni. +++ #2520 From: Bob Romanko Subject: RE: [Bearhawk] Can I build it? Dan, you offer Mike some great advice, and let me add a bit more: Mike, the EAA is a great start, but it won't finish your plane. Equating joining the EAA and finishing an airplane is like saying if I step into a church I turn into a Christian. The association is good, and you will gain knowledge if you're a member. Knowledge is needed to build the parts that make the assemblies that go together to form an airplane. Knowledge is cheap. Anyone with a brain, a decent eye, and a steady hand can build parts. The secret to building a Bearhawk, or a CH-801, or an "insert name here", isn't the knowledge or skills one has. In fact, it doesn't even matter whether the aircraft design is any good or not. Skills can be developed, and when you're bending a rib or welding a cage you're not thinking much about STOL, the airfoil the designer used, or your payload. You're thinking of building a part. It really boils down to whether or not you enjoy the building process. Sure, a Bearhawk is an incredible plane. No one here will deny that. Heck, if they were certified I'm sure that Bob Barrows would sell gobs of them. Still, just because it's an awesome design doesn't mean you will build one. In fact, you could attend every Sportair workshop there is, commit to memory every book Tony Bingelis ever wrote, and surf rec.aviation.homebuilt till you know Badwater Bill on a first name basis. I'd even say you could go on and get your A&P ticket and STILL not finish your Bearhawk. Why? Simple. You have to like the build process. Notice I didn't say you have to like the plane. What? Blasphemy! No. Not really. My wife has an uncle who's nearly finished with a Volksplane. He is doing a great job with it. Heck, it's like a piece of furniture. Problem is 'ol Scott decided about three years ago he wanted a two seater instead. Still, you'll find Scott out there in the garage just plowing forward with his single-seat VP-1. How is that? He likes to build planes. If you enjoy the process, it really doesn't matter much what you're building. Of course if you like to build and like what you're building, it makes it that much more likely you'll have a completion. Sure. There are probably folks out there who managed to build a plane they loved in spite of the hell they went through building it. These are few and far between. You'll read more about these folks in Trade-a-Plane as they sell their projects than you will in 'Sport Aviation' in the completions section. Theirs is a classic love/hate relationship. Loved the plane, hated the process. Then you have the Bob Barrows' of the world. These guys love to build. Shoot, the Bearhawk wasn't even meant to be duplicated. Bob needed a plane to haul parts, drew up the Bearhawk, and built one for himself. When folks went nuts at Oshkosh and Budd Davisson (thanks, Budd) wrote his Pirep in the October '95 'Sport Aviation' the plane started to really catch on. Bob realized he needed to verify the plans, so he build a SECOND set of wings just as a proof-of-plans. I saw them hanging up in his hangar in Fincastel. To take it a step further, Bob went ahead and build a SECOND Bearhawk, Prototype II, and hung a Lycoming 540 in it swinging a three-blade prop he BUILT. When I grow up, I want to be Bob Barrows (grin). So you see, it's not what you know or who you hang around with. It's what you like to do in your spare time. Dan offered you an excellent suggestion. Go to a Sportair Workshop and bend some aluminum. See if you like it. If you're not the greatest rivet pounder when you leave, don't sweat it. Those skills come with practice. Think more of how you like the activity than how good you are. You probably will only need the sheet metal course, since the wings take about quite a bit of time to build. When you get to the point where you need some steel in there, take the welding course. Attending a workshop is a cheap way to find out if you like banging parts. As far as whether you can (will) build a Bearhawk, you'll be able to answer that question for yourself when you walk out of your first seminar. For what it's worth... >>> 4sep02 #9154-11297 +++ #10825 From: Tim Subject: 48 Years of Sport Aviation on CD-ROM Yes you are reading that right.....thirty CD's of the EAA Magazine on CDROM for $149.00..... http://www.airventure.org/2002/mon29/sacd.html +++ $Id: 5.1-Ref-EAA,v 1.5 2002/09/05 04:59:14 bentonh Exp $