ORIGINAL: tobba
People
Looking for thoughts. I have a Tomahawk Hawk on order, due March. Keen for thoughts on the rudder setup.
From everything I am hearing the Tomahawk is pretty much identical to the SG. I saw a near disaster here in New Zealand with a SG Hawk on its second flight a month or so ago. This model was built by a chap that has been flying and building for many years, including many Jets. I did not view the rudder setup first hand, but I would expect it to be correctly setup. I am aware of a similar issue on the prototype SG Hawk but have heard nothing since. Maybe future kits were upgraded?
This is a big surface. Does it need 2 servos? Does it need a double arm - rigid push pull? or maybe more strengthening around the rudder tube where it mounts to the fuse? I am far from questioning the caliber of the design of either the SG or Tomahawk models - they are the best of the best, hence me buying one...! However the result on this model was a little disheartening.
See a few shots attached of the damage to the SG Hawk. One prior to the incident. These guys were very lucky. Just managed to squeeze it back on the runway.
Thoughts would be appreciated.
Keen to have some more details on this one? What sort of flying had taken place up to the point of failure??
I never had any issues with my SG Hawk but I 100% agree with Ali regarding 'hard' flying - I always looked to fly smoooth as was conscious of the loads on a big airframe. The Tomahawk is another step up above the SG Hawk so smoothness is of paramount importance. If I pulled hard or flew it like a sport jet and the airframe failed the first thing I'd be moaning about would be me!
I too saw Stefan's fin flutter on the prototype so did ensure my fin setup on the SG was thoroughly aeropoxied - hence the rather embarrassing picture somewhere of the aeropoxy avalanche around my fin tube...... [8D]
Let us know.
Cheers,
Mark