Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 I recently got a kit for the Sparrowhawk and was very impressed by the quality of the kit and the weight ow the components. Reading the manual showed diagrams that showed a Zenoah 62 and the carb and the exhaust outside the cowl that looked lousy. The undercart also looked strange. I read the blogs and had a few concerns regarding the kit as the undercart mountings in the wing seemed weak. I managed to get a second hand airframe that been damaged in a hard landing and the wing had been repaired but not covered. I decided to try my old ST 30cc that flew the Lysander so well. The ST had to be moved forward 30mm so ply packer was made. The Undercart was shortened by 60mm and it looked much better. The reviews that I read seemed to indicate the landing was a little tricky. I had to add a lot of lead to get the CG correct and the aircraft is quite large when assembled. I started to doubt the ST choice so did not cut the cowl just in case we had to change the motor. Test flew the Sparrowhawk yesterday and loved the way it fly's with plenty of power. Take offs and landings are a piece of cake even on our rough grass strip. I really think that we over power our aircraft as even with a 30 year old Super Tigre that still has the original wire carb and a Master Aircrew 18x8 I can do large Cuban 8'S at our altitude in Johannesburg. Great aircraft that I am sure will be flown quite a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted October 1, 2018 Author Share Posted October 1, 2018 The airframe was originally electric so was modified with the top hatch, I have the radio switch in this area. Most of my glow aircraft are flown on 35 megs as I have no issues on 35 and was have a large amount of receivers. The silver covering can show all the joins in the sheeting so I added panel lines to hide the worst ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 IIRC , RCME did a review of one. The engine quit and the wheel fairings acted like big air brakes, slowing the aircraft at an alarming rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Lovely model and i would always have flown it on 30cc. 62cc seemed rather excessive given the performance of the full size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Does anyone know why Seagull decided to make it into a Chilton DW1 lookalike? Did someone in the Far East find a picture of the DW1 and not realise it was a totally different aeroplane? Seagull Miles Sparrowhawk Chilton DW1 at Old Warden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eflightray Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 I used to have the 63" span version, electric powered, was nicely built, looked a flew good. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 Cowl and spinner now fitted so the air frame is now complete. This is a good looking and flying aircraft and I am glad that i did the changes that I did as this combination is great, a larger motor would ruin the cowl and not add performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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