The Hawk is a tandem two-seat aircraft and has a low-mounted cantilever monoplane wing and is powered by a non-augmented turbofan engine. The low-positioned one-piece wing was designed to allow a wide landing gear track and to enable easier maintenance access. The wing is fitted with wide-span, double-slotted, trailing-edge flaps for low-speed performance. Integral to the wing is 836 litre (184 imp gal) fuel tank and room for the retractable main landing gear legs. Designed to take a +8/-4 g load, the original requirement was for two stores hardpoints but it was designed to fit four hardpoints by Hawker Siddeley.

The fuselage design was led by the need to get a height differential between the two tandem cockpits; this enabled increased visibility for the instructor in the rear seat. Each cockpit is fitted with a Martin-Baker Mk 10B zero-zero rocket-assisted ejection seat. The centre fuselage has an 823-litre (181 imp gal) flexible fuel tank. The two-shaft turbofan Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour engine is fitted in the rear-fuselage with inlets on each side above the forward wing roots. A ram air turbine is fitted just in front of the single fin as well as a gas turbine auxiliary power unit above the engine. The forward retracting landing gear leg is fitted in the nose.

The Hawk was designed to be manoeuvrable and can reach Mach 0.88 in level flight and Mach 1.15 in a dive, thus allowing trainees to experience transonic flight before advancing to a supersonic trainer. Its airframe is very durable and strong, stressed for +9 g but the normal limit in RAF service is +7.5/-4 g.

The Hawk is designed to carry a centreline gun pod (normally a 30 mm ADEN cannon) and two under-wing pylons. Most Hawks use the two hardpoints but the aircraft is designed to carry four. The RAF has used the under-wing pylons to carry Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

The Hawk is still in production with over 900 Hawks sold to 18 customers around the world. 80 of the original 178  T.1 fleet have been overhauled with new center and aft fuselages from the T.60 series. First deliveries of the Hawk to the RAF were in late 1976, making some airframes over 35 years old. The RAF is currently taking deliveries of the much less aesthetically pleasing Hawk T.2. Most earlier T.1/A Hawks have been retired from the RAF.

Revell has become probably the most prodigious maker of 1/32 aircraft kits. Unlike some of the other more recent 1/32 kit makers, Revell seems to feel that there is merit in doing subjects that are not strictly WWII. They also do not seem to go for the myriad of variant boxings that one sees from Eduard and Dragon.

This particular kit is one that will resonate more with European modelers than those here in the US. The Hawk is pretty much British in origin, and probably one of the last all-British designed aircraft. To your reviewer's eyes, it is also one of the most fetching aircraft of the last 40 years in terms of just looking sleek and fast.

To my knowledge, this is only the second variant boxing done by Revell and most of the parts are identical to their earlier Red Arrows offering. Molded in Revell's standard greenish grey plastic, the detailing on the kit is really very good indeed. I am quite pleased that Revell did not choose to mold this in black as I hate black plastic.

But let us get to some of the specifics. First off, the cockpit is superbly outfitted. The seat looks right and while a resin one will have more detail, I am sure most will be pleased with the ones in the kit. There are decals for the instruments though these sections have raised detail already. Decals are also provided for the seat harnesses, something I appreciate. The canopy can be built open or closed and includes the rear seat blast shield.

Detailing in the wheel wells is excellent and properly complex looking for the scale. Landing gear and wheels are also very well molded. A full engine intake and exhaust are included with the kit with the intakes engine in an engine compressor section. The instructions suggest a light grey for gear wells, intakes, gear legs and wheels. This is correct according to the Aeroguide reference and it is light aircraft grey.

It is nice that the lower wing is in a single piece with the control surfaces as part of the upper wings. In fact, one builds up the wheel wells in the upper wing before attaching the wing sections. Though the rudder seems to be movable, all the other control surfaces are in the neutral position. This is typical of the type on the ground. Also typical are lowered inner gear doors. The kit has a separate speed brake that can be posed open, but this is not typical.

The builder will need to open holes in the lower wing in order to attach the weapons pylons. The kit provides a centerline gun pod, wing tanks for the inner pylons and rocket pods for the outer pylon. No Sidewinders with this one, which is a shame as I would have liked to have done a plane using those.

Instructions are typical Revell AG and on their semi-newsprint paper. All paint colors are Revell with only one shade needing mixed. Construction steps are very nicely done and show any colors needed during that stage. The decal options are for the all black 74 squadron plane on the box art and a dark grey over light grey plane from 151 squadron. The sheet is nicely printed and offers all the proper stencils.

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bae_Hawk

Aeroguide #1: BAe Hawk, 1983