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A busy month in the Bearhawk community

By General Aviation News Staff · June 22, 2007 ·

The four-place Bearhawk has reached the point that many are hatching and leaving the nest.

In just a month, five new Bearhawks took to the skies, from the cattle ranges of Montana to Brazil’s Mato Grasso region.

Giuseppe Zanetti of Cuiaba, Brazil, finished his IO-360 Continental-powered AviPro Bearhawk, the first to fly with that engine, in late April. “I couldn’t have been happier with the first flight,” he said. “It was everything I had hoped for.”

Barely two weeks later, the Sorensen family flew their military version of the Bearhawk in Salt Lake City, Utah. The airplane, which had three generations of Sorensens working on it, is powered by a 250-hp Lycoming 0-540. “It really climbed, even though we are at high altitude,” reports Brian Sorensen.

Then, within a few days of each other, Cal Brubaker, also of Salt Lake City, launched his 540-powered Bearhawk; Tom Oakman of Eau Claire, Wisc., flew his plans-built airplane; and Dave Roberts, a cattle rancher in Wibeaux, Mont., flew his AviPro Quickbuild.

“I have the O-540 and I barely got the throttle halfway in before it was off the ground and climbing like crazy,” Roberts said. “It was great!”

The five new planes bring the total number of Bearhawks flying worldwide to a reported 27, which is a combination of plans-built and kit-built aircraft. More than 1,000 sets of plans have been sold, while more than 90 AviPro quick-build kits have been delivered.

The Bearhawk is a four-place, 160-260 hp, high-wing taildragger that has a useful load of 1,100 to 1,300 pounds. It cruises at 150 mph at 62% power (250 hp). It is of mixed construction, with aluminum wings combined with a fabric and tubing fuselage.

For more information: 602-971-3768 or BearhawkAircraft.com

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