Twister - The Kit-Built Spitfire
Have you ever dreamed of flying a Spitfire? If the answer is
‘yes’, you should take a look at the new Twister! We are very
excited to introduce this new kit-built aircraft, designed by Silence
Aircraft in Germany.
The performance numbers can be found on the technical specifications page, but just to get your juices
flowing, imagine a cruise speed of 146 mph, a climb rate of 1500 fpm,
and all on a mere 80 HP. In addition, the custom trailer allows one
person to remove the wings, stow the aircraft and take it home.
The following AVI video clips illustrate the ease with which this can be
accomplished.
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wings first... |
Then
the tail... |
And
finally, the fuselage... |
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Twister
Articles and Information:
(New!)Twister
In June Issue of Flyer(pdf)
(New!)Twister
In Boeing News(pdf)
Twister
In Canadian Aviator(pdf)
Twister
In Kitplanes(pdf)
Twister
Innovations
Twister
Flyer(pdf)
Frequently
Asked Questions (MS-Word)
Twister News
Load
Testing and Pictures , Posted on
October 18, 2006
New pictures from a
14G static load test done earlier this year and recent air show
performances in England.
Diesel Twister in the
Works, Posted on August 18, 2006
Here are
some recent pictures of the new Diesel Twister prototype
with fixed landing gear undergoing flight testing.
The engine is Daimler Chrysler's SMART car OM660 (60hp)
by Ecofly.
Though the Diesel may be to expensive for the US market
($14,000+), in Europe the cost of savings in fuel and
availability of parts make it an interesting option.
Only time will tell if this option will work out for the
Silence Twister:
Silence
Twister
kit designer Thomas Striker resumes responsibility to
manufacture the kits in Verl Germany, posted on
March 19, 2006
This is good new
because it helps to keep the cost down and we are assured
of the kits being produced exactly like they were
designed to be. The brothers Thomas and Mathias,
Thomas is on the right, are committed to supporting
their kits to assure that they are safe, reliable and
easy to build.
You can visit their web
site at www.SilenceAircaft.com.
Twister
N787M makes appearance at the Boeing 787 Engineering
facility in Everett Washington, Posted on
January 29, 2005
New Twister
Flight Photos by Eng Photo, posted on September
15, 2004
Great new in-flight pictures of Mike Friend's
Twister (N787M)
taken by Sherwin Eng of Eng Photo.
If you would like to use any of these fantastic pictures or
wish to utilize Sherwin's photo expertise, please contact him at:
sherwineng@hotmail.com
or call at (253) 852-3569
Twister Propeller
Update, Posted September 15, 2004 and updated on October 10, 2004
Two Blade Sensenich Propeller
Our new two blade Sensenich propeller is a perfect match for the Twister.
Our maximum speed ---OK, make sure you are sitting down, --- is 150 mph or 130
kts at 7000 ft in altitude, 3150 RPM (full throttle), and about 155 mph or
135 kts at 2000 ft. using 3250 RPM and full throttle. The economy
cruise is about 132 mph at 2800 RPM. We have verified the speeds at
7000 ft. with a GPS in four different directions, at a weight of about 850
lbs. The climb rate is about 1300 fpm at 7000 ft and at about the same
weight. At Sea level and 880 lb gross weight, we get about 1500
fpm. Sea level temperature was 18º C during the flight.
Previously we checked the tachometer accuracy with a Laser Tach pointed
at the propeller and found it to be very accurate. All the
temperatures (CHT and Oil) are good with everything as is. Our fuel
burn at 2800 RPM and 132 mph is about 3.4 gph.
Three Blade Propeller Development
In
addition development on their unique variable pitch three blade propeller
continues. Installed now on two of the prototype aircraft in Germany,
they have accumulated at least 50 hours of total flight time on the three
blade design. Their maximum speed in level flight is about 149 mph,
however they think more can be achieved with further tweaking. The
biggest advantage of the V-Prop is the great fuel economy they are
getting. Normal economy cruise is about 130 mph with a fuel burn of
only 3.14 gph. In addition the Vprop provides shorter take off distances and better climb
rates.
The propeller automatically adjusts to the optimum blade angle for the speed of
the aircraft through a computer chip and a vane driven generator cap built
into the propeller spinner that drives the
propeller pitch actuator.
Twister debut at
Oshkosh, posted on August 14, 2004
It was a whirl wind job to get the Twister painted in time for Oshkosh, but we succeeded and were able to trailer it the 2000 miles
for Air Venture 2004. Unfortunately, with only 5 hours of flight time on
this kit, there was no chance to fly it during the show. Even so, it was a great success and we were told several times
we had the best looking airplane on display. There is no doubt about it, the
Twister with it's elliptical wings and Spitfire looks is eye candy for
any airplane enthusiast. We had numerous press photographers taking pictures and crowds of people around the airplane every day. Some
commonly heard comments: "that is really cool", "what a beautiful airplane",
"incredibly innovative", "somebody was thinking when they designed this
one", and many other positive observations we're sure.
Arlington Success,posted July 13, 2004
The Arlington EAA Fly-Inn was a resounding
success as the Twister's debut trade event in the United
States. For information concerning the show,
we have a brief press release.
July
13th Release (MS Word Format)
First Flight Pictures and Info,posted July
1, 2004
The first kit built Twister, N787M recieved it's
airworthiness certificate on June 29th, 2004. See our press release
for more details.
July 1st
Release (MS Word Format)
N787M makes it's first flight on June 30th, 2004
Static Testing Pictures and Ballistic
Chute Diagram, posted June 7, 2004
Below are new images of
static and dynamic testing done during the development of the
Twister and a graphic of the ballistic chute installation.
Twister Open House, April 9, 2004
To
our great joy, the Twister kit plane arrived on February 18th,
and like a bunch of six-year-olds on Christmas, opened each box with
excitement. To make it easier
for future Twister builders, Pacific AeroSport is requesting the kit be
placed on the 51% Rule List. Unfortunately,
we could not commence with building until the FAA gave the preliminary
“go-ahead”. This short term
delay will clearly make it better in the long run for builders.
On March 30th, the FAA waved the start flag and the
building process began. To aid
in this process, the plane designers flew over from Germany for two weeks.
The work is going fantastically well and faster than expected!
The
designers are heading home on Easter Sunday, and in recognition, we would
like to invite anyone interested to a small open house Saturday afternoon, April
10th, at 3:00 PM at our facility to view the new Twister kit
plane. After only a little more
than one week, we had it essentially assembled and sitting on it’s gear.
We hope you can take a few minutes and stop by.
New Two Blade Propeller Tested - February 24, 2004
Last week Silence Flugzeugbau tested the wooden
GT-2/142/vvU-FW101SRC-SCIA two blade propeller on the #3 prototype aircraft
with the Jabiru 2200 engine. The results were very good. The
propeller is a small diameter, only 55.9 inches, resulting in high RPMs during
cruise, limited by the maximum continuous engine RPM of 3300.
The maximum climb rate was achieved at 65 kts/75 mph and 75
kts/86 mph from an altitude of 2000 ft. up to 3000 ft. At both speeds
the climb rate was 1500 ft/min at a take-off weight of 715 lbs.
The maximum speed was tested with GPS on four cardinal
headings that calculated out to 127 kts/146 mph. This was very
encouraging, because it indicates that the original projected 130 knot
cruise speed may be achievable with a small pitch change.
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- Images of the
new 2-blade GT propeller currently being tested.
Please visit the photo
gallery for more images of the Twister!
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First Twister
Kit in North America - February 17, 2004
We are pleased to announce that
the long awaited Twister kit is finally in our shop in Arlington,
Washington. The retrieval from the port of Tacoma went very
smooth. With the latest Mad Cow scare and terrorist threats, we
expected the worst, but were pleasantly surprised. The only thing we
had to do was to make some minor wiring changes to get the tail lights
working correctly for our US DOT. Thanks to some instructions from
Cobra trailers in Germany, we were prepared and were able to make the
changes in no time.
After we arrived at our shop, it
was like Christmas all over again, opening up the trailer and unpacking the
parts. The first impression that everyone had was amazement at
how light the parts are. The rudder, aileron, and even the seat pan
are feather light. The metal parts machining and composite fabrication
quality is very good.
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Mike Friend, owner of the first North American Twister, stands with his new
kit after picking it up at the port of Tacoma.
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- The freshly unpacked kit out for a
photo op.
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Last Updated: July 13, 2009
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