The Falconar Golden Hawk is a Canadian

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

seat, pusher configuration,

tricycle gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ...

, canard-equipped ultralight aircraft that is offered in kit form by Falconar Avia of

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page B-77. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', pages 153 & 155. BAI Communications. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 47 Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Downey, Julia: ''2001 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 17, Number 12, December 2000, page 50. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851Downey, Julia: ''2002 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 18, Number 12, December 2001, page 37. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851

Design and development

The Golden Hawk traces its lineage to the American Aerolights Falcon of 1983. After Falcon production ended, three companies produced versions of the design. Team Falcon restarted production in 1998 with their Falcon 2000, Falcon East produced one with their Peregrine Falcon and Falconar Avia produced one and termed their version of the design the Golden Hawk. The design has a composite

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

and strut-braced wings made from

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

and covered in doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. The tip rudders and canard are also fabric-covered. The main landing gear is equipped with hydraulic disk brakes. The aircraft can be disassembled in ten minutes for ground transportation on a trailer or for storage. The canard surface controls pitch, while roll is via conventional ailerons. Yaw is controlled with wing-tip rudders. The aircraft is advertised as spin-proof. The Golden Hawk has been well received. Reviewer Andre Cliche described it as "a fantastic-looking aircraft that has no equal to stimulate the public's interest. Because of its futuristic looks Hollywood has used it several times in movies."

Variants

American Aerolights Falcon XP C-IBDG 1761

;American Aerolights Falcon :Initial production version, introduced in 1983. Production ended by about 1984. ;Team Falcon Falcon 2000 :Improved production version introduced in 1998. Features longer landing gear to accommodate a large diameter propeller. ;Falcon East Peregrine Falcon :

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not req ...

category single seater with a

Rotax 447 The Rotax 447 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. Design and development ...

powerplant of and a glide ratio of 14:1. ;Falconar ARV-1L Golden Hawk :Earlier production version, powered by a

Hirth 2703 The Hirth 2702 and 2703 are a family of in-line twin cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engines designed for use on ultralight aircraft and especially two seat ultralight trainers, single seat gyrocopters, and small homebuilts. It ...

powerplant of or other two-stroke engines of . ;Falconar ARV-1K Golden Hawk :Current production version, powered by a

powerplant of or other two-stroke engines of .

Specifications (Golden Hawk)

References

External links

Official website archive
{{Falconar Avia aircraft 1980s Canadian ultralight aircraft Canard aircraft Golden Hawk Single-engined pusher aircraft High-wing aircraft American Aerolights aircraft