Some designs take years to gestate, gain popularity and reach a point where completions spike upward. One such spike just occurred to the AviPro Bearhawk, as five aircraft took flight from late April to late May.
Giuseppe Zanetti of Cuiba, Brazil, finished his IO-360-Continental-powered Bearhawk, the first to fly with that engine, in late April. I couldn’t have been happier with the first flight. It was everything I had hoped for, Zanetti said in a company press release.
Barely two weeks later, three generations of Sorensen family members watched as the groups unique military version of the Bearhawk flew in Salt Lake City, Utah. This one was powered by the normal 250-horsepower Lycoming 0-540 and, …it really climbed even though we are at high altitude, said Brian Sorensen.
Zanetti and the Sorensens led what would become a small flurry of first flights. Another Salt Lake City resident, Cal Brubaker, flew his 540-powered Bearhawk. Around the same time, Tom Oakman of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, flew his plansbuilt airplane, and Dave Roberts, a cattle rancher in Wibeaux, Montana, flew his AviPro quickbuild.
All told, the five additions brought the worldwide fleet total to 27 Bearhawks. According to AviPro, more than 1000 sets of plans have been sold, and more than 90 quickbuild kits have been delivered.
For more information, visit www.bearhawkaircraft.com.
