hobie hawk

[Bill L]

I have a hobie that has been restored, plane has not been flown since restoration, nor has any radio equipment been installed,

Does anyone have an idea of its worth?

I do have the foam box, fuse was done with an automotive paint, new canopy, all holes in the fuse were fixed, wings were stripped and recovered.

Any help would be great

[hbsloper]

Check on ebay, Hobie Hawks occasionally come up there. They are beautiful planes. Got any pics I'd sure be interested.

Steve

[timmig]

Hobie Hawks have been selling in the $250-300 range in perfect condition- but they are available now as composite planes. Don't know how that has effected the market, the planes are beautiful- but with many "poor inherent" flying tendancies. But- collectors abound!
Tim

[AirBornOne]

... the planes are beautiful- but with many "poor inherent" flying tendancies.
Let's not confuse the lack of careful, exacting setup with poor flight characteristics TY. ;)
Milberto,
More info at...http://www.hobiehawk.com/default.htm
Actually, you won't forgive yourself for not flying the Hawk while you have it.
Fly on.
Jay.

[timmig]

The Hawk has some extremely poor flying tendancies--- due to the nature of its design!! While it is quiet eye appealing-- the elipticle wing planform with upswept tips and too small rudder cause quite a lot of yaw problems! The real beauty of the plane was in its very forward design thinking for its day-- the late 60's and early 70's -- when Hobie was playing with them and flying them down at San Onofre and San Clemente when the surf got blown out!! I have flown many Hawks-- Hobie's and others-- they all have the same problems... set up can't change that! Doesn't mean they aren't fun to fly and beautiful in the air-- good for very light conditions-- I wouldn't bother taking it to Fermin.

[AirBornOne]

Let's not confuse the lack of careful, exacting setup with poor flight characteristics

[hbsloper]

I have been a Hobie Hawk fan for sometime watched one fly this weekend and in the hands of an experienced pilot it performed flawlessly. It sloped, it thermaled, it looped, swooped and floated effortlessly!!! What a ship. Hard to believe its nearly 30 years old.

Steve

[MTT]

It sloped, it thermaled, it looped, swooped and floated effortlessly!!! What a ship. Hard to believe its nearly 30 years old.


Sorry. but to me, even 30 yrs. later, it is still one butt-ugly sailplane..... And my Graupner Cumulus would regularily outfly the Hawks at our slope.

But as, they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...... :D

Michael

[AirBornOne]

Sorry. but to me, even 30 yrs. later, it is still one butt-ugly sailplane..... And my Graupner Cumulus would regularily outfly the Hawks at our slope.

But as, they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder......

Michael

:D Well, if anyone knows butt ugly it's gotta be Bengal fans.;)
Butt Oakland fans are learning pretty quick;)
Jay.

[MTT]

Off-topic :

Sorry, Jay, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not a football fan, and much less a Bengal fan..... :)

Having been born in Germany, I'm more of a soccer fan, so, when the U.S. was playing Germany in the semi-finals of the women's soccer world cup in Portland, it was the country where I was born against my "adopted" country, so the result was OK with me either way......

For those who haven't followed it : Germany won 3-0, and will play Sweden in the championship match.

Back to the topic, sailplanes : check out my recently installed HP :
Michael's R/C soaring site (http://www.mt-rc-soaring.com)

Michael

[timmig]

Hobie --- the designer himself-- had lot's of fun flying the plane-- but even he suggested the design was NOT the best flyer-- and it is OVER 30 years old--hasn't anything to do with set-up-- or good flyers-- you cannot overcome poor design characteristics. Kind of like the original Volkswagon--- some like its looks-- other's think it's an agly little "Bug".

[dckemper]

Back to your question of worth;

It's worth whatever someone is willing to pay you. I have two new and original Hawks tucked in the vault that may be worth $450 - $500 + dollars to someone who wants a new and untouched original. If you have one that has been "restored" and looks and flys good, you can certainly expected to get $200 + from the right buyer.

FYI - I also have one of the new C-Hawks (fully molded) - beauty is in the eye of pilot... I prefer the artwork of the original...

[scalesoar]

Why is this on the scale Forum??

[Bill L]

the slope forum seams to be full of PSS stuff

Bill

[Duke58]

Right! but why do we need a Scale forum ?

Why not just a Sailplane Forum?

Life is much more interesting when "we all just don't get allong":D

Earl

[Botterii]

try looking at:

www.hobiehawk.com

:D

[CactusJackSlade]

Well,

I have patiently read all the Hobie Hawk stuff so far and if anyone is interested I will spill my 2 cents worth - I run the http://www.hobiehawk.com website...

I will certainly agree that the Hobie Hawk is not the easiest plane to fly. It does take some extra time to set it up properly and even still can be a handful at times, especially during landing in small areas.

First and foremost I feel that a majority of the trouble with pilots flying Hobie Hawks is that the plane has a 6 degree wing incidence angle relative to the fuse. This makes the Hawk fly with a NOSE DOWN attitude in proper flight. If you try to fly it with the fuse even close to horizontal, you have already stalled the plane and are working on recovery. So you have to "fly the plane" by how it reacts and not look at how the fuse looks relative to the horizon.

RUDDER: Yes the rudder is somewhat undersized for this bird, especially if you are flying it slow, like to thermal it. Understand that it was developed on the West Coast and probably a majority of it's hayday was on the slope in good lift and wind conditions, not floating gently around looking for thermals... but since I am an inlander, I thermal my Hawk and it does just fine. You just don't want to fly it particularly slow.

FUSELAGE: The fuse could have been much longer on this bird and is very short considering an 8 foot wing span. A longer fuse/tail moment would steady this bird out a lot.

(My) Conclusion: I fly my Hawks because they are still (in my opinion) the best looking bird ever built, I got hooked on the look when I was a teen many years ago. I also can fly my hawks well simply because I fly them enough to know what to expect and how they handle.

Want a better handling Hobie Hawk? How about a SuperHawk? All the things mentioned above have been addressed with the introduction of the SuperHawk:

http://www.hobiehawk.com/SuprHwkMain.html

The SuperHawk does have superior handling than the stock ones and is a joy to fly. Check it out.

Oh, I wanted to also comment about the "C-Hawk" or "Sokol" that resembles the Hobie Hawk. Actually it is very, very different and not in just the fact that it is molded. Actually the only thing that makes it resemble the Hobie Hawk it the "infihedral" curved wings. Everything else is very different. I also have not heard any rave reviews about the C-Hawk so I have held off on getting one myself just for a comparison.

Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if someone thinks the Hobie Hawk is ugly, well hummm..


CJS

[kingbee]

Interesting thread. I've owned 2 Hawks over the years, which I flew both thermal and slope. Neither one had any "dutch rolling" tendencies, nor was rudder authority at thermaling speeds a problem. On the contrary, the rudder was at times too effective, which could lead to overcontrolling, which was interpreted by some as a basic longitudinal instability. Next time you see a Hawk dutch rolling, look at the pilot's hands and see what you think...

Spot landings, yes they were a problem, especially if I tried to grease it in with extra airspeed. A nice gradual flare just before touchdown works well but is tough in windy weather.

The stall was nasty indeed. Washout helped, airfoil "trips" or "turbulators" at the wingtips also helped, but the stall was still nasty. The best cure was to not stall. Keep the nose down, WAY down.

As for the appearance, well, I always found them to be bloody beautiful, but opinions vary. Like my Grandma told me, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

My take on its performance: Yes, it is capable of excellent performance when flown well, and carefully. Will it outperform everything else in the air? Of course not. Is it easy and relaxing to fly? I'd say never easy, and seldom relaxing. Even those of us who love 'em have to admit that they can be a bitch to fly, and it takes time and dedication to learn how to get the most out of them.

Flying a Hobie Hawk well is a labor of love.

Cheers,
Dave

[Bill L]

I sure didn't realize how polarizing the subject of flying a Hobie could be.

I have flown Hobies on and off for the last 25 years, and in my opinion proper set up and an experienced pilot are the keys to this bird

Bill