BEARHAWK PATROL BEARHAWK BACK ON DUTY AS A 2-SEATER by Chuck Berthe
I
f your memory serves you well, you’ll recall that this little brother to the
Bearhawk arrived as a plans-built design in 2003. From the fertile mind of Bob Barrows, who penned the Bearhawk 4-Place utility aircraft, the Patrol borrows many of the original Bearhawk design points, such as an innate ruggedness, steel tube main cage, metal skin wings, and single struts. In general terms, the Patrol is a two-place, tandem seat aircraft in the mold of the Piper Super Cub, intended to carry a wide range of four-cylinder engines from a Lycoming O-235 all the way to an IO-390 (115 to 210 horsepower). What really sets the Patrol apart from the Cub-alikes is the design and construction of its single-strut-braced wing, which uses an airfoil quite advanced from the 1940s-era shapes favored by the Piper-like designs. New to You For several years now, the Bearhawk designs, formerly plans-built-only, have been available as a Quick-Build (QB) kit. Bearhawk Aircraft is currently offering two main stages of the Patrol kit, differing in the completeness of the fuselage. The base version, which has all the structural welding complete, requires welding of nonstructural components such as tabs and spacers. It’s unpainted, but saves $6000 off the alternative, which is a fully complete cage that’s been fully welded, epoxy primed and painted. So your choices are Basic QB Kit at $30,825 or the Deluxe QB Kit (with the aforementioned welding and painting completed) at $39,105. The wing kit comes one way: remarkably complete. All of the structural members arrive in place with the leading edge and
28 • Bearhawk Magazine • www.bearhawkaircraft.com