By Charles Albritton, EAA 545463
This piece originally ran in the October 2025 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
I never had assembling a Bearhawk Five in 12 days on my bucket list. I especially didn’t imagine doing it in the Amazon jungle at the age of 74, but there I was.
The adventure began when I met Matt Steidinger, a swine nutritionist serving the Midwest. Although he had no aviation experience and a young family, he had a strong desire to serve as a missionary pilot in the Amazon region of Brazil. I had a long history in aviation starting as an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam and ending as a pilot for Flying Tigers and then FedEx. I offered my assistance to Matt as he started his yearslong journey to achieve his goal. While continuing to operate his business, he worked to obtain his private and commercial certificates and instrument rating before moving to Michigan to attend SMAT, the School of Missionary Aviation Technology. There he not only obtained seaplane and bush pilot training but also earned his A&P mechanic certificate. In my opinion the hardest part was 11 months of Portuguese language training for Matt; his wife, Janelle; and their four young children.
Eventually the Steidingers ended up in Humaitá, a city in the Amazon basin of Brazil. Their mission, Amazon Salt and Light, operates, in addition to 17 boats, a Bearhawk Four on amphibious floats and an RV-6 donated and flown down from Illinois.
When the need for more lift became apparent, a group of aviation-minded supporters organized and purchased a Bearhawk Five kit and built it in the farm machine shop of Dan Koster, EAA 1288077, a Challenger builder and board member from Sterling, Illinois. Someone thought we ought to use Oratex to cover the airplane, which led me to Oshkosh, a seminar, and a talk with Better Aircraft Fabric folks. I returned with my new knowledge and false confidence to announce, “I think we can do this!” “We” quickly became me. I am thankful for many things in my life, and one that applies to this story are the YouTube videos published by Colby Osborn, EAA 1309654. Thank you, Colby. I couldn’t have done it without your and Amanda’s help. My Oratex assignment allowed me to take smaller parts home with me to work on as I live two hours from the build site. Then the Brazilian bureaucracy threw us a curve; all kit airplanes must now enter the country as a kit. The Oratex work stopped, and I started looking for cheap flights to Brazil. We continued building and fitting and making sure everything fit and was right. We had a going-away party for the Bearhawk on the farm in Sterling in May 2024. Immediately the disassembly and packing to containerize the airplane and a set of floats began. There was lots of checking and rechecking. Another thing I’m thankful for was everything — every nut and bolt — was in Brazil when we needed it. The container left the farm in the fall headed to Newark and arrived in Humaitá in January 2025.
The decision was made to assemble the airplane in March over the course of 12 days with a day of travel on each end. Twelve hot and humid days, working nine to 12 hours daily. Did I mention Humaitá is 7 degrees south of the equator? Another prayer was answered: an air-conditioned place to sleep.
Work began Monday, March 17, with Matt, newly hired bush pilot and A&P mechanic Steven Brumfield, and me. Steven is, to use an Army term, gung-ho. He’s a quick learner, hard worker, and only 19 years old! My travel companion from Illinois, Dan, had missed his flight from Miami and at this point was getting an airline tour of Brazil trying to get to us.
The plan for week one was for Steven and me to complete the Oratex and Matt and Dan would paint everything else. We needed to have the Bearhawk ready to start assembly when Derek Stoller, A&P mechanic and avionics wiz, and his two assistants arrived the next weekend. The bare frame was set up on our poor man’s rotisserie, a ceiling mounted hoist and two sturdy crates to balance on. We were amazed that at the end of the first day we had the right side completed and the left side glued. Keep in mind none of us had done this before, which says a lot for Oratex and Colby Osborn. On March 19 we finished the sides and had the frame on its back working on the bottom. Everything was going smoothly including the much-feared transition from the sides to the front of the tail. By now Matt and Dan had painted anything that didn’t move. Saturday afternoon found the Oratex fuselage finished and looking beautiful in Cub yellow.
On March 23, the start of the second week, we had the airplane off the rotisserie and sitting on its wheels when Derek and his crew arrived. To give you an idea how those young guys worked, when I arrived at the hangar at 8:30 Monday morning, they had already uncrated the IO-540 and had it hanging on the mounts. The Oratex guy, me, continued on one flap and aileron and the gear legs while everyone else was involved in assembly. It was like watching a stop-action movie; every time I looked up, something else was done.
Monday — Tail feathers, engine controls, connections, and wiring were under way.
Tuesday — Local crowd arrives to help lift the wings into place.
Wednesday — Day 10 of 12, the fully reversing, three-bladed MT-Propeller went on. It’s starting to look pretty cool, and everyone is getting excited. Wingtips, flaps, and ailerons on and working.
Thursday — Seats, doors, windshield, and testing of everything including spinning the new engine on the starter with the plugs out to preoil it.
Friday — March 28, Day 12. We have to leave for the two-hour drive to the Porto Velho airport at 8 p.m. to start the trek home. More testing, adjusting, last-minute stuff, and then out on the ramp to spin the compass and initialize the navigation system. Then it was time to run it up! At 4 p.m. on the last day, it’s running, taxiing, and even backed itself up a little. Why reverse? Remember, seaplanes have no breaks, and when operating on a fast-moving river, that ability is essential.
Our mission was complete. After the airplane is broken in and the bugs are worked out, it will go on floats and into service helping to spread the Gospel in the Amazon basin. We thank all who donated time and money to this project.
Attention — Aircraft Builders and Restorers
We would love to share your story with your fellow EAA members in the pages of EAA Sport Aviation magazine, even if it’s a project that’s been completed for a while. Readers consistently rate the “What Our Members are Building/Restoring” section of the magazine as one of their favorites, so don’t miss the chance to show off your handiwork and inspire your peers to start or complete projects of their own. Learn more ->