Hitec Hawkeye Glider Slope Conversion

[Mid7night]

I've seen a couple of power-conversions around for this little foamy-chucker, but most had surface extensions and I didn't see any pure gliders. I don't have any spare mini-powered stuff lying around, and I'm mostly a glider-guy, so I took to converting it for the slope.

My goal was to keep it looking as close to it's "chuck form" as possible, which meant cutting in the surfaces and putting all the electronics in the nose. Luckily there's a ball bearing in the nose which weighed about the same as my micro electronics.

I used the following hardware:

Zippy 240mAh 1S lipo - x1

FrSky 5-channel micro Rx - x1

HK-5330 Ultra-Micro Digital Servo 1.9g - x3


Sorry there's not much detail on the build, I get impatient when building and tend to move faster than my brain can remember to take pictures. It's pretty straightforward though.

Cut off the canopy - carefully - remove the ball bearing. Hog out the canopy to make room for everything.

Cut a spot for the servos and Rx.

Cut channels to let the pushrods out.

Mount control horns.

Cut control surfaces - hinge with packing tape of choice or FoamTac.


That's about it!

Haven't been out to the slope yet, but I did a park toss-test, so I wanted to share just the same.

The little dude came out pretty well, I think; only 2.7oz RTF. That puts the wing loading around 5.5 oz/sq-ft, which isn't too bad for a mini sloper! Between the micro-electronics and a bit of added tail weight from the pushrod and elevator hinging, I didn't have to add ANY ballast weight! (we'll see if that's still true on the slope)

Thanks for watching!

 

[FAI-F1D]

That's a nifty conversion. I particularly like the pattern you used for the servos. Very space efficient.

 

[Mid7night]

Slope success! Short though it was, the wind was more variable than a college math course, I still managed to have a few fun flights. Looking forward to more sloping with this little dude!

 

[ghost civic]

you know, this would be a cool way to let my kids try their hand at the controls. neither of them are great at ground based rc's, so I know they are not ready for a powered plane. But id bet that slope glider could take some abuse and give them the chance to build some muscle memory and understanding of how the controls effect the plane.
Very cool!

 

[Mid7night]

you know, this would be a cool way to let my kids try their hand at the controls. neither of them are great at ground based rc's, so I know they are not ready for a powered plane. But id bet that slope glider could take some abuse and give them the chance to build some muscle memory and understanding of how the controls effect the plane.
Very cool!

Totally, that is a GREAT idea!

Also, since this is designed as a chuck-glider, if you keep it light like I did you can still just chuck it (as in my first video) and it still flies really well. So you could have your kid(s) at the controls, and you could do the throwing (and retrieving). I only point this out because not everyone has a slope nearby, and parks are a lot more forgiving on mistakes than slopes.

 

[saiga556]

Gotta get my kid one of these. Can't believe they only $9.

Maybe I'll get myself one too. For RC purposes.

I wish the motorized version wasn't so expensive. Hawkeye Weekender.

This review claims flights of 15minutes and one with some thermals that lasted 45. Awesome.
review

 

[johnmw]

... I only point this out because not everyone has a slope nearby, and parks are a lot more forgiving on mistakes than slopes.

imagine retrieving up and down the slope..
i'd probably collapse on the 2nd round, lol

 

[Mid7night]

I saw the eHawkeye Weekender, but I don't like the look of the wingtips - it's like they're trying too hard to look like a Bix or Radian. I like the simple straight wings. Also, the price.

I got some more time on the slope today, out in the Cathedral City foothills. It flies great! The wind was still pretty light, since it was rather late in the afternoon again, so I'm still excited to see this little guy come alive in more consistent conditions.

 

[Mid7night]

Today I got my answer to "consistent conditions"...it's AWESOME! Seriously, this little thing is so much fun!

This is just a short teaser preview, because I've got seriously probably an hour of video to sift through, so stay tuned; today was a BLAST!

I've got some ideas on reducing frontal-area (drag) and improving nose-durability (lots of rocks around), but I'll leave that for another post when I actually have pics and details.

 

[Mid7night]

Found a nice place to fly in the desert, here's the whole flight!

 

[roversgonemad]

Looks like you cut the canopy with a hot knife?

Great build! I am going to do this to one or both of mine. I live right next to the foothills, and I know there has to be some good slope soaring up there somewhere. I have been watching quite a few slope soaring videos and it has definitely piqued my interest!

 

[Mid7night]

Looks like you cut the canopy with a hot knife?

Great build! I am going to do this to one or both of mine. I live right next to the foothills, and I know there has to be some good slope soaring up there somewhere. I have been watching quite a few slope soaring videos and it has definitely piqued my interest!

Go for it!

About the canopy, that's the funny thing; I thought I'd have to cut the whole thing off carefully, but it's actually a separate piece that's glued on. So you just have to cut into the gap and separate the glue and the "canopy" part just pops off. Then you'll see the steel ball inside as well.

Have fun!!

 

[roversgonemad]

So do you need the dual aileron servos to have flaperons available, or was that just for layout? I only have a lemon Rx to use, so I am going to order some servos with standard plugs and eliminating one servo will save some weight.

Regarding the canopy, you are correct, with some gentle cutting, it comes right off. Mine wasn't even really glued from the sides, only on the tab that came up out of the fuselage. The next one will certainly come off much more cleanly.

 

[Mid7night]

So do you need the dual aileron servos to have flaperons available, or was that just for layout? I only have a lemon Rx to use, so I am going to order some servos with standard plugs and eliminating one servo will save some weight.

Regarding the canopy, you are correct, with some gentle cutting, it comes right off. Mine wasn't even really glued from the sides, only on the tab that came up out of the fuselage. The next one will certainly come off much more cleanly.

You don't need two aileron servos. I have two, but I don't have flaperons set up. I have two because that bundle of servos came out of another micro project and it was just easier to leave them that way. I do tend to prefer separate aileron servos because I'm used to the flexibility of being able to center them individually, but it's not necessary. You can absolutely get it done with one aileron and one elevator servo.

 

[roversgonemad]

I will go with one aileron servo on the first one. The servos I ordered are 3.6 g each, so we'll see how it works out. The Lemon Receivers are pretty light, so with two servos and the Lemon Rx, it should be pretty light. I did order the 240 mAh 1S battery, but I might need a lighter one. We'll see how the CG works out. It's going to be light enough, some glide testing in the back yard will work for establishing CG.