I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with Tony Bingelis back in the early 80's when he was working on his Falco. I was impressed with the hinged panels he had at that time. Decades have gone by, and since I now need reading glasses and my back isn't as "spry" as it used to be, I've discovered I really don't like laying on my back and working underneath an instrument panel. I suspect the Bearhawk would be especially uncomfortable since removing the seats doesn't provide a smooth flat surface on which to work. As a result, I decided to hinge the panel. I made a jig out of mild steel 3/4 inch angle iron, and used it to support AN3-3A bolts (10-32 threads). After tack welding with the jig in place, I removed the jig and finish welded the bolts. Heat warping didn't respond to merely heating the tubing opposite the bolts, so I had to make a jack screw and push the tube back in place after heating the ends.
