Hi David
Glad you are liking the hawk. I am sure you will enjoy the way it flies. As for the fuel tank thing. I have flown the prototype model approx 75 flights to date and all has been well with the central pick up. Due to the efficiency of the design the P-120 is rarely at full power so I can get 12 minute flights with aeros all the way through.
We had a similar concern from some customers with the F-18 fuel tank. (Similar center pick up) Although they work and work well, and despite never having an fuel issue with either my hawks, or F-18 I still accept the fact that making it so the clunk is in fuel at all times must be a good thing. As always I am sure you will modify it for the best. When you do please keep us updated as I am building another Hawk right now so I would be interested to know.
David. When you are ready to fly let me know. It is very important that the elevator linkage is set correctly and even more important that the flap movement is set correctly with the right amount of elevator mix.
Devil dog,
I spotted the mis shaped nose on the hawk right away also. But as David mentioned we do not try to hide the fact that the hawk was always intended as a semi scale model which Lent more toward a sport jet performance. It was always our intention to slim the nose a little to make the model more sleek, as a totally scale hawk actually looks quite dumpy. We also cheated a little with the wing and the stab sizes but this is not so obvious.
One of the possibilities that was discussed when I was in China was that of making a new nose and canopy section at a later date that would be a lot more scale. The problem at the moment is time. There are at least another 3 new jets in pre production stages as we speak so really I am not sure when the new nose section could begin production. But if anybody is interested in a more scale model please make us aware so that we can get an idea if it is a viable project or not?