sreuss Senior Heliman Location: Ontario, Canada
| Hawk IV is great bang for the buck!Hi,
The Hawk IV is a fine choice. You will not regret it. None of the negatives highlighted by others are really worth considering. Indeed, things like 'you cant get parts for it, but you can get parts for the raptor' actually moved me TOWARD buying a hawk two years ago...
My local hobby store ONLY carries parts for the Hawk. There are no Raptor parts available locally.
I bought a Hawk III and used it for FAI/3D practise. I sold it and moved up to a Falcon SE because the latter is more durable (more BB), and because the Falcon flies closer to a 60 (actually better than some). I have not been dissapointed by either in terms of: parts cost/availability/fit, overall durabilty, and flight performance.
There are no design flaws with the Hawk, especially the IV. I have seen few (if any) posts regarding problems that people have w. this heli.
The same cannot be said about the Raptor; woof and poof and clutch problems come to mind.
Certainly purchasing a Hawk I or II will give you a heli that is not as refined as the III or IV. Thus, people saying that they were not satisfied with the purchase of a used hawk will not apply to you. Be careful about people's opinions re. the Hawk if they've never owned/flown one.
All in all, there are many plastic fantastic helis available today. Although the Hawk may have been overlooked by many people 'jumping on the Raptor bandwagon' in the past, the version IV is catching much deserved attention. There will be issues with all helis, but there seem to be fewer with the Hawk - especially when the IV is considered.
Good luck to you. I am confident that you will enjoy your Hawk IV because it will give you a trouble free and inexpensive way to learn about RC helis.
Cheers,
Steve Reuss |