New Picture for CF-APJ MiniCab Hawk

I finally found my old pics of this very slick little homebuilt and scanned/uploaded to the page. I haven't seen the aircraft since I flew in it in 1976, but I saw it being built. Not even sure the owner still flies it, but according to registry, he still owns it.

Anyway, apologies for the black and white, but it was an old camera and I developed the photos in a quick and dirty dark room at school.

John

Malcolm,

Thanks for the question. Note that my knowledge of the details of the construction are limited, but I did get a full brief on it before flight, and the builder is a long-time family friend. I saw the plane being built in his basement workshop for years prior to flying it. His son and I were the same age at the time (maybe 6-10 yrs old) and I recall sitting in the wooden "box" many evenings, dreaming of flying it.

The plane was, as described, fully homebuilt. The builder is an accredited airframe inspector for homebuilt and experimental aircraft, and by nature a perfectionist with a very creative mind combined with an extensive toolshop and skills.

The Minicab Hawk design was chosen, as I recall him telling me, for its performance and light weight combined with its modest engine requirements. Because of its wood construction, it lent itself well to design modifications, which were obviously extensive. He clearly wanted to get rid of the "boxy" look of the MiniCabs and trend towards a "Globe Swift" look. The addition of the retracts is unique to this Hawk, that I can know of. Retract cycle was manual with a horizontal crank between the seats.

The things I remember most about it were that the cockpit was very tight for my 6'4" frame…I had to remove the seat cushions to be able to fit, and the retract lever rotation was a challenge because of the tight fit. Otherwise, the performance was remarkable and handling was very crisp, with light controls at Vne and a "floaty" feel on short final.

I recall the engine was quite modest, for some reason, the number 114hp sticks in my mind, but don't quote me. It wasn't a big engine, but the two-speed prop provided good acceleration, nonetheless.

Workmanship on this plane was outstanding, with absolutely no hint that it was wooden construction. No seams, no joints, no wind noise at cruise.

Anyway, that is as much as I recall of the plane.

As far as I know, it is listed as a MiniCab Hawk in all the registries, so how the provenance of the brand, type, model works in this case…I couldn't tell you.

John

John (L-5Jockey).

May I ask you for some advice about this and 'other' Minicabs.

Regarding this particular airframe, Minicab, as far as I am aware, is a model type and not a manufacturer.

According to the normally reliable Wiki, the first 22 minicabs were built by CAB, about whom I have no data. This was followed by Gardan, Falconar and Barritault.

I am unable to find a Minicab Hawk but there was a Falconar Hawk, but Falconar aircraft mostly featured the Jodel ‘cranked’ dihedral design which is not apparent with CF-APG.

My other problem is that we have in the database a list if some 26 Minicab airframes. Those having a GY model code are clearly Gardan. There are four Minicab Hawks.

We also have models JP3-SIGNET, DRS-11, CA62 and an MTG.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Malcolm.