I never thought I would end up owing a Fly Eagle model, yet alone doing a build thread on one.. so bare with me.
I put my hands up and be the first to say that I have been less then complimentary about FEJ models over the years. Although having never owned one, I have seen quite a few that did little to impress me. Well. This all changed at Kentucky jets 2012 when I saw the first of their Giant F-16's. Long story short. I decided the that it might be time to make the plunge and try this latest generation of FEJ models for myself. After all. If they could replicate the sort of quality that I saw on the display model at KY jets, then I was sure they had turned a corner and improved their products to a level that met my expectations, and became what I considered saleable.
There is already another thread sunning on my F-16 experience. So I wont go into that. Other than to say, I was really impressed with how the F-16 turned out, and whilst not glitch free ( I have yet to have had an ARTF jet that is ) My F-16 really did open my eyes to how much FEJ had upped their game. I still always had this niggling doubt in the back of my mind that maybe the F-16 that was made for me was not truly representative of what was a "stock" fly eagle jet. Someone made a comment that maybe this was a jet they made especially as they knew it was going to a critic...
To put this to rest, I decided to get another model. This time I wanted one from their stocks. A few quick emails to James ( Who I have to say has been by far the best factory representative of any of the companies I have dealt with ) and I had one of the new large 1/4.5 Bae hawks on the way to me. With it being from stock. I had no choice as to which scheme I could get. Luckily, what was available whilst not being my first choice, was not down there with the last choices either. What they had available was the same Ferrari sport scheme that I had been flying in California just a few weeks previously. Ideally I wanted a camo hawk 100, but as I said. I wanted a model from stock and not one that had been made for me.
The model arrived in 5 days from the time it was sent. Being a stock model meant it made a pleasant change to not have to wait weeks/ months for my new toy to arrive. When it did, I was really pleased with how it was packed. I had a few tiny bits of damage, and these were
Nose light clear lens broken ( I suggested that they ship without this fixed on in the future )
one of the wing fences had a very small crack. Like the vortex generators and all the antenna's these are all pre attached very securely, and one of the big fences seems to have had a knock in shipping. Whilst the obvious fix for this is for the factory not to attach them. I know from previous hawks ( I think this is my 9th or 10 th hawk ) that fixing these fences neatly and in a secure manner can be a PIA. So I suggested that maybe a piece of foam over the wing fence may be in order.
Other than that all was good. I was delighted to see that this hawk came with all thew options. These were...
Gear installed and airlines in the wings run and fitted to the self aligning and attaching air connectors. All air cylinders ( Of which there are 7) are pre fitted and air lines attached. Speed brake fitted, hinged and attached. Complete lighting kit installed ( 7 high intensity LEDS)
Other than that, other noteworthy aspects of what I saw were...
Under carriage seemed well installed, all screws tight, and with signs of loctite used. Complete undercarriage had been painted white. In a decent fashion to boot. A scratch with a finger nail showed that the paint felt hard and well keyed
All doors were a perfect fit and seemed to hinge and actuate with ease and smoothly.
Speed brake was the same
Canopy was pre fitted and fitted well. Hatch latch felt secure and pushed home a decent way into the canopy ( Bad experiences with previous hawks shedding canopies in flight ) Canopy also had carbon tongues/ tabs that secured into the fuselage sides to make the large canopy a solid fit to the fuselage, and instil more confidence of it staying as a feature of the model in flight. Sorry to go on about this, but I have had two hawks lose their canopies in flight and both times got lucky. However. I have witnessed first hand two similar size hawks crash due to the canopy either flying off and hitting the fin, or partially detaching and causing the model to crash.
All surfaces are pre hinged.
Top hatch was also fitted, although this was not a good a fit as the canopy. It looked as if too big a hole was made in the fuselage where the pin went through from the hatch latch, which allowed a certain amount of movement in the hatch.
The cockpits had been shipped fitted inside the fuselage and the canopy attached. ( More about the cockpit fitting later ) Whilst meaning a separate box was required for the nose section, it did mean that both cockpits arrived without a scratch. Anyone who has had an ARF with these brittle plastic cockpit kits in the past will know that the likelihood of this occurring is slim to say the least, and gluing these broken cockpit kits back together is also one of those jobs that no one can enjoy??
Whilst damage free. I was not bowled over with the scale fidelity of the cockpits. As well as the fact they seem almost to be the wrong scale. Te reason for this became clear later.. I will explain.
The paint finish and surface detail are exceptional. Not a paint run, orange peel or even a masking bleed anywhere to be seen. The fear is that this high gloss and perfect finish is at the expense of lots of paint being used. I have seen this in the past, and the most tale tale sign is the loss of the surface details such as panel lines and rivets. Looking over my hawk, I was pleased to see all panel lines and rivets were clear to see.
I am waffling on now... sorry. I will start with photos and brief descriptions. It's that time of year where I actually get some time to spend in the workshop doing something other than prepping models for yet another event. This coupled with the fact that I actually wanted to put this one together for myself and see what the kit was like, and what snags arose, meant that I decided to put this one together myself.