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Bearhawk Dual Cargo Doors

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Chris In Marshfield

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Jan 29, 2008
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Location
Northwest WI USA
The original Bearhawk was a two-door airplane with access to the cargo area by hoisting the objects over the seat into the back. In 1996, Bob Barrows introduced the side-access cargo doors, not unlike what you'll find on the Maule. There were a couple of less-publicized incidents with the fuselage twisting/buckling where the cargo doors are that Pops told me about, but there have been a couple of revisions to the design -- including a couple that Pops gave me that aren't on the plans -- to rectify the problems in that area.

One would presume that these updates would make the cargo-door side structurally the same as the non-door side. That said, I've read from some Bearhawkers that, in a heavily loaded plane, it is fairly evident that there's some flex in that area given how the clearance between the doors and the frame is reduced. And float operators are following Maule's playbook and adding some steel sheet to the truss beneath the cargo door to stiffen that area a bit more.

So that brings me to the next question. For a plane that operates on floats, it's certainly beneficial to have cargo doors on either side of the plane to facilitate loading regardless of your docking situation. Completely generalizing here (without making anyone get a calculator out), what is the likelihood of being successful with a dual cargo door setup, one on each side? Do you envision this being the Achilles heel of the plane? Substantial redesign? Other?

Just fielding opinions.

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