Hawk Setup Tips

3.5cc Hawk

Strut

The first thing that should be set on the boat is the strut. This is one of the most important settings to get right. The strut should be set at 3/4" deep, measured from the bottom of the hull to the centerline of the strut. Next the angle is set. The strut angle should be placed between 1 to 1.5 degrees of negative angle, meaning that the rear of the strut is deeper in the water than the front is. It is important that the boat is resting on a flat surface to get the angle right. Once this angle is set properly, tighten the two bolts to properly hold the strut in place.

Sponsons

Rear
To set the rear sponsons, make sure the boat is on a flat table and that the turn fin and the rudder has been taken off. The back of the boat should be resting on the strut. Note the picture below for visual assistance. The left rear sponson should be set at 1/8" off the table. To help in holding the sponson at the proper height while you are taping the sponson on, you might want to put a piece of 1/8" wood under the sponson to act like a shim. The top of the sponson should be flat (parallel with the table). The right rear sponson should then be set at 1/4" off the table. Use a piece of 1/4" to help out and make sure the top of the sponson is parallel with the table. The deeper left rear sponson transfers weight to the front right sponson to keep the turn fin in the water during high speed corners.

Front
A couple of adjustments should be made to the front sponsons. First adjust the number of shims under the front and rear boom brackets. A recommended place to start is with no shims under the front bracket and 2 shims under the rear bracket. The shims should be 1/16" thick, smaller ones can be made to help make finer adjustments. If the front of the boat is hopping in the water, add one shim under the rear bracket. If the front of the boat seems "to be glued to the water", take out one shim from under the rear bracket. Next, adjust the width of the sponsons. The distance from the left bottom on the left front sponson to the right bottom on the right front sponson should be 16.5". See the picture below for further assistance. Finally set the turn fin so that the top bend is 3/8" below the running surface of the right sponson. The bend should be parallel with the surface of the flat table that the boat is sitting on.

Propeller

The recommended prop to start with is the Octura 1450. It is a good all-around prop that works well in heat racing. Other props worth looking at are the 1600 series from Octura and the Octura V947 3-bladed propeller.

General

The roostertail should be flat, low, and smooth. If the boat hops it will not be smooth and not develop maximum speed. This can be caused by a bad prop, high drive angle, high rear sponson angle, rear sponsons mounted too deep, or the rudder is not sharpened on the bottom.

7.5cc Hawk

The same tips will apply for the 7.5 Hawk, the only changes are in the numbers. First, widen the front sponson distance to 18" instead of 16.5". Next, deepen the turnfin so that the top bend is .5" below the running surface of the right sponson instead of 3/8" . Finally, the recommended prop to start with is an Octura 1457 or 1460.

G&M Models

The following products can be purchased from G&M Models, as well as many other products.
G&M Models can be contacted at: (630) 279-2451.
Return to the Hawk Hydros page.
If you have any questions, please email me at jpreusse@earthlink.net