Barrows Bearhawk
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The Bearhawk, is a line of light utility aircraft produced by Bearhawk Aircraft of Fairview, OKlahoma. The aircraft is supplied as a kit or as plans for amateur construction.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011">Vandermeullen, Richard: 2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide, Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 44. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851</ref><ref name="Barrows">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Aerocrafter">Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter – Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 232. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="WDLA15">Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015–16, page 102. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. {{#if:1368-485X|Template:Catalog lookup link{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|Template:Error-small}}</ref>
Design and developmentEdit
The Bearhawk was designed in the early 1990s<ref name="KPHR1Dec23">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 Template:Convert wide and accessed by doors, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011" />
The aircraft fuselage is made from welded steel tubing covered in doped aircraft fabric, while the wings are made from aluminum sheet. Its Template:Convert span wing employs a NACA 4412 mod airfoil, has an area of Template:Convert and mounts flaps. The aircraft's recommended engine power range is Template:Convert and standard engines used include the Template:Convert Lycoming O-360 and Template:Convert Lycoming O-540 four-stroke powerplants. Construction time from the supplied kit is 1200 hours.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011" /><ref name="WDLA15"/><ref name="Incomplete">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The prototype was fitted with a Template:Convert Lycoming O-360 burning automotive fuel,<ref name="Aerocrafter" /> but in August 2023, the option of fitting the DeltaHawk DHK180 type certified, two-stroke Template:Convert diesel engine was added.<ref name="Cook07Aug23">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Operational historyEdit
By October 2016, 77 examples had been registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration and 11 with Transport Canada.<ref name="FAAReg">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="TCCAR">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
VariantsEdit
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- Bearhawk (4-Place Bearhawk)
- Four seat model with a cabin Template:Convert wide and a gross weight of Template:Convert, with 75 reportedly completed and flown by December 2011. Employs a NACA 4412 airfoil.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011" />
- Bearhawk Bravo
- Improved model introduced at AirVenture in July 2016. The wing has a Template:Convert greater span and Template:Convert greater area and employs a Riblett 30-413.5 airfoil, which gives a Template:Convert 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Patrol
- Two-seats in tandem model with a cabin Template:Convert wide and a gross weight of Template:Convert, with three reportedly completed and flown by December 2011.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011" />
- Companion
- Two-seats in side-by-side configuration model, with a gross weight of Template:Convert. First customer deliveries in October 2019.<ref name="Cook26Aug19">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>