The dry weight of my Hawk (UAT full, main tank empty, rockets and drop tanks on) is 35.3lbs.

And as to the main fuel tank, at least for my older plane, it is huge. I usually only fill it 2/3 to 3/4 full for a 6 minute flight and land with about 1/4 fuel left. Now that is with a K140 though.

Having some trouble with the added drop tanks for my hawk-100 along with the pylons for them. The way they mount to under the wings is by screwing in 2 blots to the wing that have big heads and are about half inch. And the pylons have pre-cut out keyholes in the fiberglass and you have to guide the pylon hole over the bolts, slide the front and back keyholes down over the bolts then tightening them by pulling the pylons the other way towards the direction where keyhole gets narrow so the bolt slides into the narrow spot and holds.

Mine dont hold, they Keyhole is loose and the grip is wobbly on the pylons. The area where the bolt mounted on the wing is supposed to slide back into the narrow keyhole part of the pylon is obstructed by white glue in irregular intervals internally in the pylon. I haven't even gotten to the tanks yet. @Alfa did you find a better mounting system? Like something that I can screw down instead of yanking on a pylon to pull it into a narrow keyhole section and hope it holds?

Also the bolts are machine screws but seem to be screwing into hard ply which isnt going to keep its grip and thread long. I would have hoped there would be blind nuts on other side but no there isnt. It's going to hold for 40 flights and then one side will depart after the wear and tear between machine bolt and wood and a drop tank will fly off.

HELP!

I glued my pylons to the drop tanks, so these are permanently attached. Then I drilled holes in the bottom of the drop tanks big enough to fit a Phillips head screw driver (needs to be a long one to reach thru both the drop tank and pylon).

So when I mount the tanks, I slide them over the big head screws in the wing, slide them back to the lock point, then use my screw driver to tighten the wing screws down from the holes in the bottom of the drop tanks. This results in a very firm attachment. And of course, reverse procedure to remove.

I probably have almost 200 flights on my Hawk with the tanks attached. I have not had any issue with the screws in the wing getting sloppy or loose.

Maybe someone else has a better or easier way. But this has worked well for me.

alfa I am GEEKED to read your description, I understand exactly what you are saying, mixing Hysol and laughing maniacally as I prepare to glue my pylons to my drop tanks. THANK YOU! :) :) :)

-Shaz

Oh what did you do with wing tip missiles and pylons for those? lol :)
And thanks again Alfa!

Alfa I sent you a PM

For the wing tip missiles, I glued the pylons to the missiles, then have the wing edge screws tightened to the point that the pylons barely slip over the screw head. This results in a pretty tight attachment, with the force of the wind keeping these in the locked position. I have scraped the fins on the missiles a time or two in a crosswind landing. But the fins on the missiles are flexible, so no damage.

I also sent you a reply PM

Jim

Use some thin CA on the wood hard points in the wing to harden it. Once is cured, the screws should then hold with no problem. I know what you mean but the irregular glue inside of the pylons. I have the same problem with the Yak 130 I am building. I plan to get inside of there with some hysol and a toothpick and try to even it up.

Tone

Cheers!
Desert Fox 1