DSK Airmotive Hawk
| DSK-1 Hawk and DSK-2 Golden Hawk | |
|---|---|
| Role | Recreational aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Homebuilt |
| Designer | Richard Killingsworth |
| First flight | 26 May 1973 |
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| |
The DSK Airmotive DSK-1 Hawk was an unusual homebuilt aircraft designed in the United States in the early 1970s. While the design itself was utterly conventional - a single-seat low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tricycle undercarriage - its method of construction was not, since the DSK-1 Hawk used a surplus 200 US Gal military drop tank as its fuselage. Designer Richard Killingsworth sold over 250 sets of plans.[1]
Development
The DSK-1 featured "drooping ailerons" that acted as flaps for short field operations.
Variants
A follow-on design, the DSK-2 Golden Hawk with a more conventional fuselage for builders who could not obtain a suitable drop tank. This was expected to fly in 1976, but on 12 April 1975, Killingsworth was killed when the Hawk prototype crashed shortly after takeoff.
Specifications (DSK-1)
General characteristics
- Crew: One pilot
- Length: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m)
- Wingspan: 20 ft 5 in (6.21 m)
- Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
- Wing area: 64 ft2 (6.0 m2)
- Empty weight: 525 lb (238 kg)
- Gross weight: 893 lb (405 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-145, 65 hp (48 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 146 mph (235 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 131 mph ( km/h)
- Range: 550 miles (885 km)
- Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,660 m)
References
- ↑ "The Homebuilt You Have to See to Believe". Popular Mechanics. May 1974.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 347.
- Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977-78. London: Jane's Yearbooks. p. 535.