Manuel Hawk
{{Short description|British single-seat glider, 1972}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=Hawk | image= | caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Glider | national origin=United Kingdom | manufacturer= | designer=W.L. Manuel | first flight=25 November 1972 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=1 | program cost= | unit cost= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Manuel Hawk was a homebuilt single-seat glider designed and constructed in the UK around 1970. Only one example was flown.
Design and development
W. L. "Bill" Manuel, who had designed and built a glider as early as 1929 and was later responsible for the Willow Wren, designed the Hawk during his retirement. It was a single-seat aircraft intended for soaring in weak thermals. He built the Hawk himself during 1968 and 1969 before taking it to the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield for structural analysis.
The Hawk was an all-wood, cantilever shoulder wing monoplane. The centre section of the three-piece wing was of constant chord and fitted with parallel-ruler type, upper surface airbrakes positioned at 28.26% of the half-span and at 42% chord. The outer panels were tapered with rounded tips and carried the ailerons. The wing had an angle of incidence of 3° and the outer panels had 3° of dihedral. Structurally, the wings had a spruce main spar at 33% chord with a plywood-covered torsion box ahead of it and fabric covering aft.
The fuselage was a semi-monocoque spruce structure with plywood covering. The fin was also plywood-covered, carrying a fabric-covered rudder which reached from the underside of the T-tail to the bottom of the fuselage. The fixed-incidence tailplane was likewise plywood-covered and the elevator fabric-covered. The latter carried a Flettner-type trim tab on its starboard edge. The Hawk's single seat was forward of the wing and under a hinged, framed canopy. It landed on a single fixed wheel assisted by a tailskid.
The first flight was on 25 November 1972, piloted by Howard Torode of the Cranfield Institute. Tests showed a lack of rudder power, quickly cured by an increase in area, but no other concerns.
Operational history
Only one Hawk was built. It was certified as BGA 1778 by February 1973. In July that year it was at the Sywell PFA weekend, where it gained third place in a competition amongst homebuilt aircraft. Since 2013 it has been preserved by the Gliding Heritage Centre at Lasham.The Gliding Heritage Centre [http://www.glidingheritage.org.uk/collection.htm Collection]
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1973/74
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=1
|length m=6.25
|length note=
|span ft=42
|span in=0
|span note=
|height m=1.41
|height note=
|wing area sqft=149
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=12
|airfoil=Wortmann FX6-184 inboard, FX-61-210 tip
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=407
|empty weight note=equipped
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=640
|max takeoff weight note=
|more general=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=146
|max speed note= in smooth air. Like the following performance figures, this speed is for maximum take-off weight
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed mph=36
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|minimum control speed kmh=
|minimum control speed mph=
|minimum control speed kts=
|minimum control speed note=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=
|ceiling note=
|g limits=+4
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=best 25:1 at 41.5 mph (36 kn, 66.5 km/h)
|sink rate ms=0.77
|sink rate ftmin=
|sink rate note=minimum at 38 mph (33 kn, 61 km/h)
|lift to drag=
|wing loading lb/sqft=11.8
|wing loading note=maximum
|more performance=
}}
{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
}}
References
External links
- [http://www.scalesoaring.co.uk/VINTAGE/Documentation/Hawk/Hawk.html Scale Soaring UK: The Manuel Hawk]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121009162211/http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/afplots/fx61163.gif Wortmann FX61-184 airfoil]
{{W. L. Manuel aircraft}}
Category:1970s British sailplanes