Hawk GAFHawk

The Hawk GafHawk ("General Aviation Freighter") was a small, turboprop-powered freighter aircraft developed in the United States in the 1980s but which only flew in prototype form. It was designed by Hawk International as a means of transporting drilling equipment in and out of remote locations, and was designed to be simple, rugged, and have good STOL and rough-field performance. The resulting design was a boxy aircraft with a rectangular-section fuselage with a high-set tail and rear loading ramp. The high aspect-ratio wings were high-set and braced with stuts. The landing gear was fixed and of tricycle configuration, with the main units having dual wheels.

Certification proved elusive, however, and Hawk eventually abandoned the project without building any other examples.

Variants

• GafHawk 125 - prototype and intended production version (1 built)
• GafHawk 950 - enlarged version (not built)
• TurboHawk 85 - twin-engine version (not built)

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: Two pilots
• Length: 46 ft 11 in (14.30 m)
• Wingspan: 71 ft 6 in (21.79 m)
• Height: 18 ft 0 in (5.49 m)
• Wing area: 493 ft² (45.8 m²)
• Empty weight: 6,800 lb (3,085 kg)
• Gross weight: 14,500 lb (6,577 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65B/R, 1,173 hp (875 kW)

Performance

• Cruise speed: 138 mph (222 km/h)
• Range: 824 miles (1,326 km)
• Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
• Rate of climb: 920 ft/min (4.7 m/s)

References

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 928. ISBN 0-7106-0710-5. 
• Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1987-88. London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 434–35. ISBN 0-7106-0850-0. 
• "GAFHawk Nears Completion". Flight International: 56. 9 January 1982. Retrieved 2008-05-04.