Robert "Bob" Barrows is an American aircraft designer and engine builder of light aircraft. Best known as the designer of several Bearhawk planes, he is also a mechanical engineer, and A&P licensed aviation mechanic.

Career

Barrows is the designer of the Bearhawk

Patrol A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as Law enforcement officer, law enforcement officers, military personnel, or Security guard, security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology Fro ...

, Companion, 4-Place, and Model 5 light aircraft, as well as the Bearhawk LSA

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a fairly new category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictio ...

. Prior to designing the first aircraft in the Bearhawk series, the 4-Place, Barrows designed and built a

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

high wing plane called the Grasshopper and an

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

. After designing his four-seat Bearhawk in the early 1990s, Barrows started using airfoils designed by Harry Riblett in his Bearhawk designs. In April 2019, Barrows was injured in his Bearhawk LSA when he clipped power lines on approach to land. The LSA's steel tube design resisted crumpling beyond the firewall.

References

People from Fincastle, Virginia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Aircraft designers American mechanical engineers Aircraft mechanics {{US-mechanical-engineer-stub