The *ARC SuperHawk Kit

In addition to the supplied manual, I will be adding to this page for additional reference as I personally build up one of Tony's SuperHawks!

I would first like to start out by saying that the quality of the SuperHawk has simply amazed me. The complexity of this plane is HUGE and despite all the difficulties Tony at Synergy Composites has made an incredible kit for you to fly! I highly doubt that he will continue to make these beauties forever... I suggest you pick one up while you can!

Please note that my personal procedures may differ from the manual... as with any craftsman, it is just my personal preference.

	FUSELAGE: The very first thing I do is to add this hanger wire through the rudder hinge hole. I then wash it with warm soap and water to remove any wax or silicone that might be left over from the mold release. I then wet sand the whole fuse' with 220 grit sandpaper.
	I use some good quality primer and spot putty that will be compatible with the paint I have chosen. The seams and small voids are minimal so you shouldn't need anything more than these for your fuse' prep.
	As you can see, after the first coating of primer even the smallest air bubble or seam is easy to spot and therefore easy to fill. The primer makes these bubbles look big, when in fact they are really pretty small.
	Here I have filled any voids, bubbles or seam areas with spot putty. The depth of most of these imperfections is minimal but I did this proceedure 3 times sanding in between coats to get most of the voids filled. 98% of the primer and spot putty will be sanded off prior to painting.
	Here is the painted fuselage. Even after all my hard prep work I still missed a few of those bubbles/voids... but overall it came out NICE! OK... OK! So I used the old school method... Use Tony's method in the book - it works better!
	The wings, stabs and rudder will need the tips glued on and shaped. I prefer to cut and shape them fairly close to the correct size before glueing them on... less sanding!
	I used 5 min epoxy to attach the tips, here they are clamped and waiting to cure. I then finish sanded them to shape.
	Covering the stabs and rudder is straight forward... they are nice and FLAT!
	The wings are of course another story! Here I first pre-cut the proper size covering material and get things layed out.
	Then I have flattened the wing by adding some weight to the root and then using some tape on the tip to pull it down within about 2.5" from the bench. Basically this lays the wing flat except for the last 6 rib bays or so.
	I loop the tape around the tip then run it under the bench and tape it to the underside. Making the wing almost flat like this makes covering MUCH easier. I start at the root end and work my way toward the tip.
	I start at the root and work toward the tip... I had a little interesting help!
	I call these: SWEET WINGS!
	The next step was to install the radio equipment, in particular the servos first, since this is also the "access hatch" in the deck. I chose to stager and angle my servos for better pushrod to canopy clearence.
	Because I chose to stager my servos my battery pack shape needed to be staggered as well to fit through the opening.
	I made a 2 position tow hook plate with blind nuts about 5/8" apart.
	Here is the tow hook - just a simple one.
	The tinting was easy using RIT dye in warm water for about 25 minutes.
	Nice, clean install!
	What's left to do??? Put it all together, check balance, trim etc... and fly!