Barrows Bearhawk Explained

The Barrows Bearhawk, now also called the Bearhawk 4-Place, is an American amateur-built aircraft, designed by Bob Barrows and produced by R&B Aircraft of Fincastle, Virginia, AviPro Aircraft and now Bearhawk Aircraft of Austin, Texas. The aircraft is supplied as a kit or as plans for amateur construction.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Design and development

The Bearhawk was designed in the early 1990s[5] as a personal project by Barrows to carry aircraft engines for delivery as freight. It features a strut-braced high-wing, a four-seat enclosed cabin that is 42.50NaN0 wide and accessed by doors, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft fuselage is made from welded steel tubing covered in doped aircraft fabric, while the wings are made from aluminum sheet. Its 331NaN1 span wing employs a NACA 4412 mod airfoil, has an area of 180square feet and mounts flaps. The aircraft's recommended engine power range is 150to and standard engines used include the 1800NaN0 Lycoming O-360 and 2500NaN0 Lycoming O-540 four-stroke powerplants. Construction time from the supplied kit is 1200 hours.[4] [6]

The prototype was fitted with a 1700NaN0 Lycoming O-360 burning automotive fuel, but in August 2023, the option of fitting the DeltaHawk DHK180 type certified, two-stroke 1800NaN0 diesel engine was added.[7]

Operational history

By October 2016, 77 examples had been registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration and 11 with Transport Canada.[8] [9]

Variants

Bearhawk (4-Place Bearhawk)
  • Four seat model with a cabin 42.50NaN0 wide and a gross weight of 27000NaN0, with 75 reportedly completed and flown by December 2011. Employs a NACA 4412 airfoil.
    Bearhawk Bravo
  • Improved model introduced at AirVenture in July 2016. The wing has a 120NaN0 greater span and 5square feet greater area and employs a Riblett 30-413.5 airfoil, which gives a 5to higher top speed while retaining a low stall speed. The redesigned airframe also uses aluminum fuselage formers, window sills and door sills, replacing the steel formers and sills in the original model, which provides better corrosion resistance and less weight. The landing gear struts are made of heavy-wall round cross section tubing rather than streamlined tubing, which provides more resistance to sideload failure.[10]
    Patrol
  • Two-seats in tandem model with a cabin 320NaN0 wide and a gross weight of 20000NaN0, with three reportedly completed and flown by December 2011.
    Companion
  • Two-seats in side-by-side configuration model, with a gross weight of 22000NaN0. First customer deliveries in October 2019.[11]

    Notes and References

    1. Vandermeullen, Richard: 2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide, Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 44. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851
    2. Web site: Bob Barrows Biography. 1 November 2012. Bearhawk Aircraft. n.d.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120903093455/http://www.bearhawkaircraft.com/Bearhawk/barrowsbio.html. 3 September 2012.
    3. Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter – Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 232. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.
    4. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015–16, page 102. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.
    5. Web site: Spangler . Cook . 19 July 2013 . The Airfoil Adventures of Harry Riblett . 1 December 2023 . Kitplanes . Connecticut, United States.
    6. Web site: The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage. 3 January 2012. Lednicer. David. 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20110719211726/http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/aircraft.html. 19 July 2011. dead.
    7. Web site: Bearhawk Makes DeltaHawk An Option. 8 August 2023. Cook. Marc. AVweb. 7 August 2023. https://archive.today/20230808112335/https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/bearhawk-makes-deltahawk-an-option/. 8 August 2023. live.
    8. Web site: Make / Model Inquiry Results. 27 October 2016. Federal Aviation Administration. Federal Aviation Administration. 27 October 2016.
    9. Web site: Canadian Civil Aircraft Register . 27 October 2016 . Transport Canada . Transport Canada . 27 October 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110718042755/http://wwwapps2.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/ccarcs/aspscripts/en/quicksearch.asp . 18 July 2011 .
    10. Web site: Bearhawk Announces The Bravo Model. AVweb. July 27, 2016 . 2 August 2016.
    11. Web site: Bearhawk Introduces Side-By-Side Companion. 28 August 2019. Cook. Marc. AVweb . 26 August 2019.

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