DSK Airmotive Hawk

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]

DSK-1 Hawk and DSK-2 Golden Hawk
Role Recreational aircraft
Manufacturer Homebuilt
Designer Richard Killingsworth
First flight 26 May 1973

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 sq ft (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, 127 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 131 mph (211 km/h, 114 kn)
  • Range: 550 mi (885 km, 480 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,660 m)

References
  1. "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.
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