"Pacific AeroSport

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.


The wings first...	Then the tail...	And finally, the fuselage...

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.

Static Load test to 14G of Twister 9-26-06.JPG (1574046 bytes)

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.

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.

BRS System:

Twister Open House, April 9, 2004

To our great joy, the Twister kit plane arrived on February 18^th, 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 30^th, 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 10^th, 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.

	- Images of the new 2-blade GT propeller currently being tested. Please visit the photo gallery for more images of the Twister!

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.

	- Mike Friend, owner of the first North American *Twister*, stands with his new kit after picking it up at the port of Tacoma.
	- The freshly unpacked kit out for a photo op.

Last Updated: August 29, 2011