DSK Airmotive Hawk

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

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]

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 ft² (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)
• Cruise speed: 131 mph ( km/h)
• Range: 550 miles (885 km)
• 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. pp. 347. 
• Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1977-78. London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 535.