Steps

Started June 7, 2006

The steps are an optional item not shown in the plans so its up to the builder's own ingenuity to come up with a way build and attach steps, if one so desires. Some folks don't even install them.  If I were to be the only one flying in my Bearhawk, I would probably leave the steps off. However, my wife is what they call "vertically challenged".  She's short (just the way I like them), so I have added steps to allow her to enter and exit the airplane a little more gracefully.

I have seen some pictures of the landing gear with the step option that Avipro sells for the Bearhawk kits and really liked them.  The following is my rendition of their steps.

The end of the tube was shaped on an anvil using a heavy hammer, turning it over and over again while hammering to keep the taper centered.  It was ground down on the sides a bit to remove the excess where it flared out.  Here is the finished product being checked for shape against the streamline tube (the step):

The end piece was cut out on a bandsaw and final sized with grinder, then smoothed with a file.  It was then welded to the end of the step:

Here is the completed step for the pilot's side of the airplane:

The final thing to make is the trailing edge for the landing gear legs. This is the completed gear leg and step on the passenger side of the airplane:

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