Bearhawk 4-Place
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Bearhawk is Bob Barrows's four-seat steel-tube-and-fabric utility taildragger, sold as plans and as AviPro quick-build kits since the 1990s and now as the Model B: a 34 ft wing, 2,500 lb gross, a 42-inch cabin and a 260 hp Lycoming IO-540 standard, with the factory quoting 144 mph cruise, a 42 mph stall, 1,500 fpm and 1,100 lb of useful load.
The Bearhawk is bought as a homebuilt alternative to a Cessna 180 or 185: four real seats, a big useful load, floats and skis, and short-field performance, for less than a certified bush plane costs. The trade is that it is a welded steel-tube, fabric-covered homebuilt from plans or a quick-build kit, so weld quality, covering and the gear attachments are the inspection items, and engines run from a 180 hp O-360 to a 300 hp IO-540 with the empty weight and performance following; the figures here are the factory's for a 260 hp Model B and an older 2,700 lb-gross Bearhawk or a four-cylinder one will differ, so read its weight-and-balance. With 260 hp it is high-performance for endorsement purposes, and a heavy tailwheel aeroplane that insurers will want time in. Kits and plans remain in production. The owner may maintain it and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman certificate.
Variants of the Bearhawk 4-Place
- Bearhawk 4-Place · 111 active · this page
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What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tailwheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Lycoming YIO-540-D4A5 (260 hp standard; IO-390 210 hp and Continental O-470 options) |
| Horsepower | 260 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 125 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 521 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 1,500 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 36 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,100 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,500 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,400 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 133 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 111 |
| Median year built | 2015 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 13 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 117.121 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 108.112 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 16 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 14.413 |
| Airworthiness directives | 8 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 111 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 111 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 111 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 0.1 of 101 |
| Severity | 8.8 of 102 |
| Access | 1.2 of 103 |
| Support | 4.6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.7 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 16.4 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 33.21 · 223 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 796.
- Support: class median 131.
- Liquidity: class median 19.89.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30