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Hey Joel, I finally got everything together today, the wind wasn't too bad where we took the plane, and I actually flew it... didn't even crash it once :-)...

This plane is just fantastic.. Gail even said it looks so easy she wants to fly it the next

time..

For the fake camera I bought a can of lead pellets from the sporting goods shop.. took the bottom of the can and put a hole for a bolt/nut. Measured out the pellets for the exact weight of the camera, put them back into the can and taped it all together...mounted it all on the plane...worked like a charm.

I can't wait to get good enough to put the camera on it...

Thanks again...

This morning I manage to fly the Hawkeye with camera onboard, and had taken some photo. Everything went well, she fly beautifully, slow and predictable. Thanks Joel for your good work on this ap platform. Looking forward to take more pic on some of my client project. For some ap photo, pls use link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kolacg/HawkeyeAP

Mine arrived at the Weekend. I've not assembled it yet, but have ordered a motor and prop. 250W motor and 9x6 prop. It is a very good quality piece of kit! It comes with idiot proof [I'll put that to the test] written instructions/diagram and a DVD. It looks very simple to finish off. My version is the ARF. $175 plus about $50 shipping to the UK. I was expecting to have to pay Duty but as Luck would have it I didn't need to!

Well impressed with the design, the sail looks bullet proof (very well stiched) and really looking forward to getting it out. I should weather permitting have it out within the next four days. As soon as I do I'll post up some images.

hawkeye maiden flight. Balanced level from the provided loop, stock motor and battery. Simulated canon sd870is, spectrum radio hs81mg servos. Applied 1/3 throttle and tossed slightly up. Stabilized immediately. Applied 2/3 throttle and experience slight left turn and slight porpusing. Trimmed out turn. Managed throttle into a smooth climb Cut power gradually after climb. Smooth glide with less rudder respose. Throttled up gently into level flight. Powered off and landed at my feet. Moved cg forward. Flew again. Solved pitch stability issue. Very stable and predictable. High throttle settings force it to pitch up and mush into a stall. IMHO once you get it balanced it flys best when you apply and reduce the throttle gradually. I found the hawkeye design well thought out and of remarkable build quality.

Will show pics soon...

Hello Hellbore!

I have flown five generations of SS AP with everything from Aiptek to Canons from 15oz to 38oz AUW. Know what you mean about the vibration issue.

Got a Hawkeye about a month ago with the recommended Dualsky power system. It does a better job at dampening vibration than the SS. However there were some vibrations issues initially. Climbing power did make for some slightly blurry shots. Power off shots were perfect. I changed my camera settings from standard auto to use higher shutter speeds and the blur went away. My Canon SD870IS is new and I needed to experiment but I was in a hurry to try out the Hawkeye.

One thing I need to do is balance the prop. That made a huge difference in the SS video so I assume it will do the same here. Will let you know. I believe it will be even better on the Hawkeye because of Joels clever foam ply sandwich design that does a lot of dampening at the camera end.

The Hawkeye does everything advertised. It assembles and breaks down for transport quick and easy, is very stable in flight and can launch and land out of small spaces. The build quality is remarkable and Joel stands behind his products 100%. There are very few RC aircraft on the market that are designed specifically for Aerial Photography. I consider the Hawkeye as the most practical, portable and durable RC AP system available.

Hope that helps,

Texas Pete

Operator error NOT a problem with the Hawkeye. My second flight with the Hawkeye I was flying down around myself and back up again total control with no issues within about 3 feet of myself that how confident I am with it

OK, my turn. I decided to not build my own and I am the better for it. I just received my Hawkeye from Joel. As I said to Joel in an email to let him know that it has arrived safe and sound, "I must say the Hawkeye is very professionally put together. I am very pleased with my purchase. The various airplane “manufacturers” could learn a thing or two from you about quality and service." This is one of the best put together kits I have ever seen. I can't wait until I get a chance to fly it. I will however wait until a windless day.

- Jeff

I moved my cg forward and flew again this morning. Even though there was a slight breeze it flew totally awesome! I forgot to clear my memory card so my video only lasted about a minute but I did manage to grab some stills of it in flight.

bracky72

I got a kit version of the Hawkeye. Joel sent it out to me ASAP and it came well packaged. There is a lot of fine work in the kite itself and it looks very robust. Hat's off to Joel for supplying such a fine product at a very reasonable cost. Like everyone seems to do I mounted my gear in a way that best suited me. I had on hand a Axi 2808/24 and it fit quite well.

Dan

My friend (who is not normally impressed as he flies "fast and furious" aircraft) was impressed by the inherent stability of the machine. I just wanted to thank Joel for a great design and a well thought out and successful kit. I will post any results as soon as I get any.

Cheers Ted (UK)

Man I really like how easy it is to pack this up and get ready to fly. Grab the Hawkeye, grab the kit bag, grab the radio and a couple of charged batteries. Off you go. This thing is really easy to fly. I have a large field to fly over for testing and I did some full throttle and full rudder to practice bringing her down quickly. Lots of fun when you are doing it for practice instead of for real. And landing...it lands itself! All you do is line it up and back off the throttle. She floats down. I kept pulling back on the elevator to flare. Hard to get used to only using rudder and throttle. Anyway, I don't think I ever landed it. All I did was the line up, throttle off and watch it glide down to the spot I had chosen. I've never ever done that with my other planes.

Jeff

I packed my Hawkeye and took it on the road with me. I wanted to get a feel for how I'm set up to take pictures from non flying area's. I hand launched three times and plunked it into the sage brush and rocks three times as well. It is certainly robust. The first landing planted right into a hunk of bassalt and it didn't even dent the foam.

Dan

I had mine ready to go in under 2 hours. The toughest part for me was pressing the rubber rings over the cf rod. A little lube helped. You prepare them really nice so there isn't much to do.

Just a quick e-mail to let you know that the Hawkeye has arrived safe and sound. No damage or anything. I must say the Hawkeye is very professionally put together. I am very pleased with my purchase. The various airplane “manufacturers” could learn a thing or two from you about quality and service. It has been a pleasure doing business with you.

Hi, Joel

Had two great well controlled flights today - really flew well after moving the CG slightly back. Very calm at present but unfortunately dull and misty so did not take any photos. Great machine though!! Ted

Rest assured, Joel that the Hawkeye is DEFINITELY NOT the culprit-as I previously said the last two flights I had were absolutely a delight and I had really great landings each time - I really can't praise the machine enough - for me it's fantastic. The machine is SO EASY to fly and a pleasure to fly also with, as far as I can see, no bad habits.

Cheers and best regards,

Ted

Joel Just received my Hawkeye...Its Great! I can't get over how compact and light it is. Its refreshing to see that you take pride in the quality and manufacturing of each Hawkeye and personally sign each one.

Thanks, Bill

Hi Joel,

Just a quick to note to say I had the Hawkeye out this afternoon and it was great fun. I really appreciate the prior thought that went into the system — balance was great, controls worked well, and I can already tell it will be an effective camera platform. I have not flown an RC craft since 1995 so it was with some relief that I found myself comfortable flying the Hawkeye.

The Hawkeye would dip on touchdown. The other flights (http://home.subh2o.org/photos/Hawk190409c.wmv ) were perfect. There is a learning curve but if newbies like us can do it, anyone can! Yes, very happy with it. We'll continue to experiment and I'll keep you informed of how it turns out.

Best regards,

Richard

Every purchase I have made from Joel I have been pleasantly surprised with the quality and workmanship. I could never build anything this good. Joel just seems to go that extra mile in his builds. Something to keep in mind, Joel has been building RC planes and award winning kites for over 20 years (make you feel old Joel?). That expertese has gone into the design and build of the Hawkeye.

Just my humble opinion,

Jeff

I tried as well as Jeff using various kites of differing sizes and I would WHOLEHEARTEDLY endorse everything that Jeff has said here AND MORE!

You won't be disappointed, I assure you, NO, you will be pleasantly amazed at the build quality and workmanship of Joel who, as Jeff has stated, has many years in the building of aircraft and kites and latterly much time in investigating and developing Hawkeye.

Ted (UK)

am pretty new to RC planes after having spent a number of years with RC cars and trucks (I have 14 at last count....I am a serial hobbyist!). My local hobby Store, Wings and Wheels in Tyler, Texas is owned by an avid RC flyer and he was constantly telling me I ought to try flying. I am reasonably certain that his motivation was to get me to spend as much money with him on RC flying as I had spent on RC Cars! He even went so far as to give me a PZ Super Cub to get me hooked! I flew it until I was comfortable with it and I really enjoyed it. Then I started looking around on the web for different alternatives. I bought a brushless GWS Slow Stick and that really made a difference in my flying experience! I could do things that I couldn't with the Super Cub and I was kind of hooked. Then I started looking around for more and AP came up....well.... I had a camera that would shoot video and that intrigued me, I could take pictures of what I flew over!!! ....that was interesting!

Research led me to Joel's Hawkeye. I read through all of the 537 of the replies on the thread and then I read through them again and I decided that this was something I wanted to explore. I called Joel and we had a couple of conversations and he convinced me that if I wanted to do AP that the Hawkeye was the way to go. I bought a RTF and all I had to do was hook it up to a Spektrum DX6i and the Spektrum AR receiver that I had just bought. Joel was very helpful in making everything work together.

OK, now I had the Hawkeye in my shop and after some advice from Joel I had all of the functions of the Hawkeye compatible with my Spektrum TX and receiver and it was ready to fly. All I had to do was wait for the right wind conditions suggested for a newbie to maiden this plane and then it was a go! I went out yesterday and the winds were around 5 to 10 MPH so I backed off and flew my Slow Stick.

Today I went out and the winds were dead calm. OK, now was the time! I hand launched with about 3/4 throttle and it went into the air with no problems. I got it to about 150 feet to give me room to maneuver and from that point on it was a matter of getting used to how the 2 controls affected the flying....more throttle and it climbs, left or right rudder and it turns (just like Joel said it would!). I had two 2200 mah Lipo batteries I got from Joel and I flew about 12 minutes each on both of them ( I didn't want to over extend them) and after the battery exchange my confidence level grew. I figured out that if you turn you need to give it throttle to stay level.

I am confident enough in the short experience I have had with the Hawkeye that tomorrow, if the winds are right, even with the limited experience that I have that I am going to mount a "sacrificial" $39.00 Jazz camera I got from WalMart on the excellent camera mount that comes with the Hawkeye.

While I was doing my maiden flight I had 4 people come up and ask me about the Hawkeye and what was going on with it. I even had a FAA licensed pilot come up to me and ask if I could do some AP video of the local airport and if I was available to do some commercial photography for her. I am not quite ready for prime time yet but this might be a way to subsidize the hobby!

To kind of sum it up, if you want a RC plane that is just fun to fly and is dead easy to fly and control, the Hawkeye is the plane you want. If you want an AP platform for single photographs or video you couldn't find a better way to accomplish this. Joel is more than helpful when you have questions and he is readily accessible when you need him.

Do yourself a favor, look at the Hawkeye as an AP platform or a fun RC "airplane" to fly.

Thanks,

Joe Peacock