The Hovey Delta Hawk was a light single-seat sport sesquiplane which was available in the 1980s in kit form in the United States, being designed by Mr R W Hovey of California. Mr Hovey has been involved in the design and construction of ultralight aircraft for many years, one of his first designs being the Whing Ding, which was produced as an aircraft which could be built quickly and cheaply, which offered STOL performance and was capable of rapid disassembly and transportation. It was fitted with a 10 kw (14 hp) McCulloch 101A single-cylinder engine. Design began in October 1970 and it made its first flight in February 1971, more than 4,000 sets of plans being sold. Development led to the Delta Hawk, a light biplane with a tailwheel undercarriage of pleasing appearance with a wide-stance and capable of operating from rough short airstrips. A number of engines could be installed, the Kawasaki 440 being the engine specified by the manufacturer, although it is believed the Cuyuna could also be installed. Most aircraft completed in this region were fitted with engines from the Rotax range. A number of kits have been imported and at least five have been completed in New Zealand, these including: ZK-FNC (c/n MAANZ/381), ZK-FPU (c/n 178), ZK-FSM (c/n 46 JAF 3), ZK-FSN (c/n 46 JAF 4) and ZK-JAU (c/n MAANZ/473), the latter being painted in an air force training colour scheme. A number have been completed in Australia, including 10-0023 (c/n 1049) and 10-1139 (c/n unknown).
