| National origin | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Designer | W.L. Manuel |
| Number built | 1 |
| First flight | 25 November 1972 |
The Manuel Hawk was a homebuilt single-seat glider designed and constructed in the UK around 1970. Only one example was flown.
Design and development
W. L. "Bill" Manuel, who had designed and built a glider as early as 1929 and was later responsible for the Willow Wren, designed the Hawk during his retirement. It was a single-seat aircraft intended for soaring in weak thermals.[1] He built the Hawk himself during 1968 and 1969[2] before taking it to the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield for structural analysis.[1]
The Hawk was an all-wood, cantilever shoulder wing monoplane. The centre section of the three-piece wing was of constant chord and fitted with parallel-ruler type, upper surface airbrakes positioned at 28.26% of the half-span and at 42% chord. The outer panels were tapered with rounded tips and carried the ailerons. The wing had an angle of incidence of 3° and the outer panels had 3° of dihedral. Structurally, the wings had a spruce main spar at 33% chord with a plywood-covered torsion box ahead of it and fabric covering aft.[1]
The fuselage was a semi-monocoque spruce structure with plywood covering. The fin was also plywood-covered, carrying a fabric-covered rudder which reached from the underside of the T-tail to the bottom of the fuselage. The fixed-incidence tailplane was likewise plywood-covered and the elevator fabric-covered. The latter carried a Flettner-type trim tab on its starboard edge. The Hawk's single seat was forward of the wing and under a hinged, framed canopy. It landed on a single fixed wheel assisted by a tailskid.[1]
The first flight was on 25 November 1972, piloted by Howard Torode of the Cranfield Institute. Tests showed a lack of rudder power, quickly cured by an increase in area, but no other concerns.[1]
Operational history
Only one Hawk was built. It was certified as BGA 1778 by February 1973.[3] In July that year it was at the Sywell PFA weekend, where it gained third place in a competition amongst homebuilt aircraft.[4] Since 2013 it has been preserved by the Gliding Heritage Centre at Lasham.[5]
References
- ^ Taylor, John W R (1973). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1973/74. London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 576–7. ISBN 0-354-00117-5.
- ^ Ellison, Norman (1971). British Gliders and Sailplanes. London: A & C Black Ltd. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7136-1189-2.
- ^ "UK register". Air Britain Digest. 2 (4): 139. July–August 1973.
- ^ "Flying is Popular.". Flight. Vol. 104, no. 3358. 19 July 1973. p. 92.
- ^ The Gliding Heritage Centre Collection Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
