On 15 Jul 2003 03:18 PM, RobertR237 posted the following:

Based on everything that you have said, I would recommend the Bearhawk.
I am not that convinced the RV-10 would be that good on rough fields.
The Bearhawk looks to be an outstanding aircraft for rough fields but
not sure if it has STOL capabilities.

Those who have flown the Bearhawk confirm that it has outstanding STOL
abilities. The flaps are 8 feet long (each) and go down 50 degrees at
full deployment (plain flaps, not fowler or slotted). The landing gear
uses gear legs similar to what a cub would use, but instead of bungees
the Bearhawk uses a pair of oil filled shock absorbers. This gives
outstanding dampening whether on a hard surface runway or bouncing
through the sticks and rocks, in addition to having lower drag than
bungees. A number of people building other designs have purchased the
Bearhawk plans solely to get the landing gear drawings.

Another factor to consider is the ease of making repairs to the tube and
fabric fuselage and tail feathers, as compared to the all aluminum RV-10
and Zenith designs. When operating from rough strips, mishaps can and
do happen despite our best efforts, so repairability is a legitimate
concern. I've personally flown in a couple of tube/fabric planes which
were wrecked in remote locations, and restored into hands-off flying
condition. One of them was even flown out after making field repairs.

Personally I find the Zenith designs interesting, and I'd consider
building/buying one as a second aircraft for making local flights. But,
as has been mentioned by others, the limited cargo space and low cruise
speed make even the 801 totally unacceptable for my use.

----------------------------------------------------
Del Rawlins-
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Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
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