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Ballast my Hawk


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Hi all.
I've recently acquired a PMP Bae Hawk off eBay for the sum of £35.



The model is in good nick and when I maidened it a few weeks ago it was obvious that it needed ballast to penertate the 20 mph wind.

I borrowed 2 x 75g slugs and placed inside the fuz' on the c of g, this made a huge difference.
When I got the model home I decided to add a similar amount semi-permanent as I only plan to fly this in a decent blow.


When I flew on the weekend (different slope but similar wind speed ) the model would only stooge about. I borrowed some more slugs and taped the underneath on the c of g. This made no difference at all.
I carried out a dive test with the added weights and it slightly wanted to climb out indicating slightly nose heavy....

Obviously I need to make a few adjustments but would this slight nose heavy give me this slow flight characteristics and unable to penertate?
It is so different compared to the last time I flew it.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks all.
Phil

Edited By Big Phil on 02/10/2013 19:32:13

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Well firstly, I would be careful about ballast - if you overdo it, even slightly, the Hawk WILL bite.

I see it has no wing fences either wink

As to its poor performance, being slightly nose heavy should not cause a drop in speed, other than possibly having a little "up" elevator whichg would increase drag slighly - perhaps this new to you slope just hasnt got quite the same lift you are used to.

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Hi Tim

Thanks for that, we've flown this slope quite often....it is a good local slope. but not as good as the Bwlch which is where I first flew the Hawk.

My plan is to remove the 'semi permanent ' ballast and make a compartment in the fuz' where I can add or remove lead as required.

I don't mean to sound thick but what are wing fences?

Here's a link to a video which includes a little of the Hawk on it's 2nd flight at the Bwlch with the ballast.

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Ah thanks Tim.

That is a nice Hawk, mine is not a patch on that.

As with most of Stans older models mine is foam on ply construction and only semi-scale.... sort of ish...IYKWIM.

I spoke to Stan today and he describes my Hawk as a stable model that could be clased as an aileron trainer.

He suggested that I double check the C of G and experiment with the weight that I add.

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