Manuel Hawk

W. L. Manuel · United Kingdom · first flew 1972 · glider

The Manuel Hawk was a homebuilt single-seat glider designed and constructed in the UK around 1970. Only one example was flown.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	1 × none, embedded-mounted
F — Fuselage	Fin carrying a rudder that runs from the underside of the T-tail to the bottom of the fuselage
T — Tail	T-tail

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

All-wood cantilever shoulder-wing monoplane with a three-piece wing
Fin carrying a rudder that runs from the underside of the T-tail to the bottom of the fuselage
Single seat forward of the wing under a hinged, framed canopy, landing on a single fixed wheel and tailskid

Look for a shoulder-wing glider with a constant-chord wing centre section carrying upper-surface airbrakes, tapered outer panels with rounded tips and a T-tail.

Specifications

The Manuel Hawk has a length of 6.25 m (21 ft).
It has a wingspan of 12.8 m (42 ft).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

W. L. "Bill" Manuel designed the Hawk during his retirement as a single-seat aircraft for soaring in weak thermals. He built it during 1968 and 1969 and took it to the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield for structural analysis. The first flight was on 25 November 1972.

Variants

Only one Hawk was built. Tests showed a lack of rudder power, quickly cured by an increase in rudder area.

Where you'll see it

It was certified as BGA 1778 by February 1973 and in July that year gained third place in a competition among homebuilt aircraft at the Sywell PFA weekend. Since 2013 it has been preserved by the Gliding Heritage Centre at Lasham.

Related aircraft

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