Hawk Pro down...

[Ontaeronut]

Well, it finally happened. I had my first crash since starting to fly heli's two years ago.Had a major radio failure on my first flight of the day yesterday. Landed, switch off the idle up switch and the heli took off and started spinning around all by it's self. I had no control at all. Turns out the radio somehow got it's self into the TX settings menu..* to change the stick mode*.. Very strange cause I never use that menu.. Anyhoo, long story short, we had to turn off the Trans to stop the heli from climbing.. and down she came. Straight in, landing gear first. Parts list is growing, pretty much up to a cost of a new kit. Funny thing.. parts that should have broke, didn't. Didn't take out the main or tail blades, or the boom, it spun in the transmission casing/upper frame mount.

it hit so hard it even bent the upper frames and the collective pitch levers.

Worst thing is, my radio still won't exit that TX settings menu, so it will have to be sent in for repairs... so I am grounded till further notice.

[Dennis P]

Sorry to here this Carl,but 2 years is something to be proud of and you still did not dumb thumb it either.

[Ontaeronut]

Thanks Dennis, yes I am trying to stay positive that I did not dumb thumb it in... but omg..what a horrible feeling to watch your heli go straight down with no power or radio control at all. Could almost hear that sickening crunch..

[907Heli]

I feel your pain. I botched an auto and had to watch mine bounce this summer. That was painful but nearly as much as when a servo flipped out and tore my hawks tail off.

[Ontaeronut]

Well, after the tear down to see what was needed for parts that I did not have..and belive me I have quite a bit...

sighs. only things really that survived the crash,

1.Complete tail including boom.*has a broken tail slider arm. *

2. Engine/pipe combo

3. All electronics, radio/gyro/gov/voltage reg.

4.Flybar paddles and a few odds and ends.. pushrods, rotor head button etc.


And that folks is about it.. everything pretty much is totaled or bent.

RIP Hawk pro.. you served me well.



aww man.. just found that I broke the mounting tabs off of three of my futaba 9252 servos.. this crash keeps getting worse and worse...

[motorhead540]

sorry to hear about your hawk sounds like a new kit is in order this time around . I think that is one of the reasons I continue to fly my Century Hawk Pro , major crashes don't completely break the bank ... sure puts a damper on the fun for awhile though Good luck with the rebuild

[Ontaeronut]

Originally Posted by motorhead540

sorry to hear about your hawk sounds like a new kit is in order this time around . I think that is one of the reasons I continue to fly my Century Hawk Pro , major crashes don't completely break the bank ... sure puts a damper on the fun for awhile though Good luck with the rebuild

Thanks, Not sure if I am going to go with another hawk, might make the jump up to 50 sized nitro. I have a bit of time to wait and see since my radio just got to Hobby Services to be repaired..only took over a week...

Plus, when I ordered my new servo cases, great hobbies had them in stock.. only to get an email back about.. 15 mins later, saying they only had two and it would be another 8-12 days for them to get some in stock. I swear that lil black cloud over my head gets bigger and bigger every day. LOL

[MotorRotor]

Might be time to consider the Radikal N640FBL or FB. You will find it a BIG improvement from the venerable Hawk Pro. Set it up with 610 blades and a OS or YS50 or with 620 or 640 blades with the OS55 pumper or YS56 or 60.

Then you will have a state of the art 50 size that flies like a 700.

[Furious Predator]

I agree, if you have to do a new kit then maybe consider the upgrade to the N640. I still cant get over how great of a heli it is. My 90 has been down all summer...normally it would irritate me a lot more then it is, but the 640's are giving me my fix. I finally smacked mine up after 11 hours of flight time on it with no maintenance at all. I fly mine with 9252's and a FBL head, good solid combo.

Interesting note...the 640's really aren't that much bigger then a 50...actually....they aren't !!!

Last week a member came out with my old NX50 I sold him, put it up beside my E640...turned out the 640 was a little shorter (mainly due to FBL head), and overall length was identical.

Cant explain it, but the 640's just have a better presence in the air when compared to the older 50's despite being the same size.

[MotorRotor]

You will love the N640.The Hawk Pro is a great little beginner 30 sized heli, but the N640 is a much better heli.

The N640 is a completely different and far superior heli to the NX50 also. All components/systems on the two helis are different, from the fully CNC machined rotor head of the 640, to their new swashplate, to their carbon fiber mainframes system, to the clutch and autorotation system, to the puch/pull eCCPM control system, to the very nicely painted fiberglass canopy on the 640, to the clutch and drive system, to the torque tube system & right on through to the tail rotor and its' control system.

They may look to be of similar size, but the N640 also has a lot longer distance from center of the mainshaft to the center of the tail shaft. That is why it can use bigger (640mm) blades and the NX50 was limited to 610mm blades.

The N640 is a completely new & different helicopter from any of their past models.

[Ontaeronut]

Thank you for all the nice words about the N 640, it's a heli that really has tweeked my attention. I only have two problems that stop me from getting on.

1. Friend of mine, had a G20 radikal, and it would toss out the one way bearing every so often and down she would come. Does the N 640 share the same one way?


2. What do I do with the wack load of Hawk pro parts I have? I got a box full of spare parts when I bought the bird way back when.. all still in the package..

Ah well.. good news is.. looks like my radio is on it's way back to me...WHOOT I can fly again soon...

[MotorRotor]

The N640 is also a very different design then the G20. No auto bearing issues with it.

That said, there was some defective ones in some kits when they were first introduced but Century had a recall on them immediately and replaced them with better ones for any who had the bad ones. You could tell the correct ones because they had a different number of roller bearings and a different cage color.

[Furious Predator]

My N640 has been a solid winner. Only time mine has needed work was when the ground would jump up and hit the heli.

I went 11 hours of flight time logged by the Futaba 750 before I first smacked the ground with it. Up till then I have done pretty much nothing but throw fuel in it.

I do how ever recommend going with an OS55. I have been a YS fan for years, but have had too much trouble with their 50's, and no response at all from customer service. Their 90's are bullet proof, but the 50's need some work...

I am using the OS55 with the DRS pump/regulator and matching pipe made by OS. Amazing combo, great power and extremely smooth, worth every penny.

[Bikersurgeon]

Greetings, ontaeronut, sorry to hear of the incident! What radio system are you using?. If you get away from the hawk let me know, I may be interested in some parts.

[Ontaeronut]

Hi Bikersurgeon,

Yes, it was a shame, just when I finally got everything working perfect, and completly in sync with the heli...

As for a radio, I use a Futaba 7C, its since been sent in and repaired, same goes with the servos.

It all lives in another heli that I got for a smoking deal locally.


Soooo, I do happen to have some Hawk parts... and currently have them listed on another thread in here.

here is the link to the thread and a complete list of the new in package stuff I have.

https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=571399