Bearhawk Aircraft reports the first flights of its aircraft in New Zealand and Australia.
In Wellington, New Zealand, Jonathan Battson completed and flew the first four-place Bearhawk to fly in New Zealand (pictured above).
Featuring a 260-hp Lycoming 540, Jonathan and his partner Nick are seeing cruise TAS above 140 kts at altitude, company officials say. Slowing up, with full flaps they have seen a GPS corroborated stall speed of 34 kts at idle power. From Jonathan: “The (conservative) first takeoff was well less than 80m ground roll, the Bearhawk climbs remarkably fast — sustaining 2,000ft/min.”
Peter Mitchell in Perth, Australia, recently flew the first Bearhawk PATROL (pictured below) to fly in Australia.
Extraordinary weight saving effort while building kept the Patrol’s empty weight under 900 pounds to allow Peter’s Patrol to be registered in the Light-Sport category. Featuring a special Bob Barrows overhauled lightweight Lycoming O320, Peter is very happy with his Patrol’s performance.
“Take off and climb is fantastic,” he said. “It flies beautifully, and I was amazed that it flies hands off when trimmed for level flight, no adjustment needed. I have a few minor things to do on it now, however I was so pleased that it flies so well and is so well balanced.”
For more information: BearhawkAircraft.com