Hobie Hawk
06-20-2018, 11:45 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Hobie Hawk
One great flying glider, the Hawk is a true classic and the first fully composite ready to fly glider, and that was back in 1973. It was years ahead of it's time and flies amazingly well for a rudder elevator ship. I takes a good pilot, and requires gentle inputs on the stick to be smooth, but will reward you with excellent performance. Many Hawks were unfairly maligned by pilots who did not take the time to carefully tune the set-up of the plane per the instructions. Properly set-up, the Hawk is a joy to fly.
Regards,
Jay
Regards,
Jay
08-23-2018, 11:09 AM
#4
Thread Starter
A "reasonable price" would have to take inflation into account, as nobody is going to sell you one for the 1974 retail kit price of $89.00, or the ARF price of $129.00. The RTF Hobie Hawk with radio was $399.
In today's prices they would be about $360 for the kit, $550 for a AFR, and $1200 for a RTF with radio. Of course the condition would affect price as well. Given how hard it is to remove 30+ year old Monokote from plywood, and how most Hawk's original Monokote is now brittle, most Hawks now need recovering, which is quite a bit of work, especially if you want to go with transparent colors. So, the nice ones command good prices as it take a lot of time to restore one properly, and there are a very limited amount of nice originals left.
About you only hope is to find one cheap is to locate one stashed away in a closet or garage and the original owner is no longer around, so nobody knows what it is worth. That is rare, but it does happen.
In today's prices they would be about $360 for the kit, $550 for a AFR, and $1200 for a RTF with radio. Of course the condition would affect price as well. Given how hard it is to remove 30+ year old Monokote from plywood, and how most Hawk's original Monokote is now brittle, most Hawks now need recovering, which is quite a bit of work, especially if you want to go with transparent colors. So, the nice ones command good prices as it take a lot of time to restore one properly, and there are a very limited amount of nice originals left.
About you only hope is to find one cheap is to locate one stashed away in a closet or garage and the original owner is no longer around, so nobody knows what it is worth. That is rare, but it does happen.
08-23-2018, 06:31 PM
#5
Jayman, I have found that old brittle Monokote can be restored by re-heating, and re-shrinking. I've got a PDQ Super Clown with 40 year old Monokote on it. When it has hung on the wall for several years, I take a heat gun to it before I fly it. I've also got a Hobie Hawk that has been crashed and repaired in white Monokote. If I was going to fly it this weekend, I would go over it with a heat gun first, and never worry about it.
12-18-2018, 09:07 AM
#6
This is the one I bought for $100
This is the new one and I paid a lot more money for it.
I am one of the lucky ones to find one at an insane price. Walked in my local small hobby shop and there was a styrofoam box sitting on the counter. I said cool you got a Hobie Hawk. He said a guy brought it in and it was in his dad's stuff that they were cleaning out and wanted to sell it. The hobby shop guy had never seen one and ended up buying it for $20. I walked in a 1/2 hour later and got it for $100. I had no idea what they were worth I just wanted it because I had flown several of Hobie's prototypes and he made me and a couple of friends a great deal on three from the first run. I also had a couple of more and really liked flying them. The one I got is unbelievable as it was maybe flown a couple of times and has an original RS two channel radio in it. One wing had a couple of cracks in the trailing edge and was patched in transparent orange Monokote. This got me collecting them and I have one that is brand new and has never even had the wings plugged on as the wing rod and tail wires are sealed in the bag. I bought another nice one that needed to be restored and I'm doing that one right now to fly as the other two are too nice to fly.
12-19-2018, 11:40 AM
#7
My Feedback: (19)
I never owned a Hobie but did get to fly one a bit back when they were new. My friend bought the kit and though he was quite the Monocote artist, I remember him complaining about covering the wings. With the constant dihedral sweep, they were quite a challenge. I seem to remember there were included instructions and tips for covering but no longer remember what they were. Does anybody remember that about covering the wings?
12-19-2018, 12:15 PM
#8
Yes, I know a lot about it as I'm covering a Hobie as we speak. You clamp down the wingtip and put a 5lb or so weight on the root and tack the covering down all around the perimeter on the top. Trim and iron down all the edges then the bottom can be covered very easily without straightening things out.
