fritch1969

Are these things really that hard to put together ? the guy at the hs said it was a bad idea and I should buy the ARF. I am very mechanically inclined and don't see a problem with it, setup is a different story. What is the best way to break in a heli engine, on the bench or in the heli ? my plane engines go on the bench.

polyhedron_12

Break the engine in on the bench, it will save you a lot of headaches

Helis are easy to assemble, they just take time. It's not a mistake, probably the guy that you talked to just doesn't have patience. I think if you have never put one together before, the kits are better because you get a better understanding on what is actually going on.

fritch1969

that is why I wanted the kit, I like to see how things work

FHHuber

The Hawk Sport comes in "modules" It is VERY easy to assemble. The pushrods are all premade to correct lengths if you are using standard servos too. The hardest part is... attaching the fan to the engine. You have to be careful to not put excess force on the fan blades. use a strap wrench to hold the fan while tightening the bolt on the crankshaft. (have the strap on the main casting...not on the fan blades)

There is enough assembly work for you to see how everything works... but you don't have the mass of little parts and screws of a kit that has no pre-assembly done.

melandsurveys

I was worried that the ARF would be too complete and I wouldn't understand what I wanted to know about the basics of the heli, but was totally wrong. The parts that already come complete seem to be the ones that would be really frustrating and time consuming, as well as the factory knows how much to lube the areas. You will get a good handle on the rest of the assembly you will have with the ARF version. I am mechanically inclined, and have plenty of patience, and HIGHLY recommend the ARF, you won't regret it. Also, there is plenty of fewer things to go wrong.

ChopperMike

I highly recommend the Hawk Sport as far as flying it goes. I didn't realize when I bought mine last July that this newest version of the Hawk is an ARF. Although it has much less pre-assembly than some. Like my Century Hummingbird which is completely assembled, all you do is install the radio gear.

That being said, I do not recommend an ARF to a beginner. I'm not sure I'd recommend an ARF to anyone. Both for different reasons. The beginner because he has to know how everything goes together and the expert because he has to make sure it's assembled correctly with locktight where it needs to be. However, I found out after I started building the Hawk that the factory did a very good job of ensuring that there was locktight where it needed to be. After a while I stopped dis-assmbling it to check for this and just put it together per the manual.

Helicopters are not difficult to build if you have any mechanical aptitude at all (unless the manual isn't very good, not the case with the Hawk). And if you are mechanically challenged, you picked the wrong hobby. There are a little bits that need to be checked periodically.

Bottom line: If you chose a model that is only offered as an ARF, don't worry about it. But do pay close attention to the manual. Make sure you know what each part is and what it does. If you have a choice, but the kit.

Regards,

Mike

Mugen Mbx5

I just finished my Hawk sport (kit) and do not regret buying the kit at all. It doesn't take long to put together at all, the major parts are already together. Buy the kit and get a little familiar with the construction of the heli, then it will be that much easier to maintain and repair it. This thing goes together like a dream.

frieshoo

My Feedback: (20)

Does the torpedo muffler come with the kit? Just curious.

Temps

I wouldnt buy another arf kits are much better (you know how its gone together )i also enjoy the biuld

ChopperMike

It comes with a muffler. From what I hear it's not as good as some, but it does the job.

Mike

melandsurveys

It does come with a muffler, but from what I have heard you are better off upgrading to a different muffler, such as the revolution, for like 35 bucks and the heli will fly much better. I don't, know why exactly, b/c I saw one fly with the stock muffler this past weekend and it looked fine, but that is what I was told so I have the revolution on mine and expect first flight this weekend!

Oud31

I fly mine with stock muffler,it works fine its just a little louder than most others

frieshoo

My Feedback: (20)

oh well... order mine last night... I have FMS, is that a good starting point? I can hover on FMS, but I have a hard time turning the heli....

I have a pz-200 gyro (bought it NIB at the last swapmeet in North Carolina), several NIB standard BB servos... Some of them are Hitec 605's... I'm thinking about putting the 605 on the tail rotor to work with the gyro... is this a good idea? I'll put standard BB servos in the remaining positions... Also, I just found out this Heli is not CCPM... I know that's a cyclic-pitch mixing standard.... but will my JR 652 tx fly this bird? Should I upgrade to CCPM?

how that's alot of questions

thanks in advance.
Dennis

syclic

Muffler,

The stock black one works fine, it is just a bit noisier then the silver Torpedo version (CN3033-$39.95) that you may eventually upgrade to. In fact some here buy them to put on other 30's. The Silver Torpedo (CN3033) is also more of a baffled/tuned muffler so later when you want that bit extra power for 3D aerobatics you then may consider a change to it.

frieshoo

My Feedback: (20)

UPS dropped the Sport Hawk Arf at my door yesterday. I'm still waiting on the OS engine from Tower. What servos should I use? I have several NIB Hitec 605's (fast and strong), and several Hitec 545, and 525's..... I'm thinking two 605's on the TR, and collective.... and standard BB servos on roll-cyclic, fore/aft-cyclic, and throttle....

thanks in advance
Dennis