| Knight Twister | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1951 D-1 Knight Twister | |
| Role | Sport aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Homebuilt |
| Designer | Vernon W. Payne, Sr. |
| First flight | 1932 |
| Number built | about 75 |
The Payne Knight Twister is a single-seat, single-engine aerobatic sport aircraft first flown by Vernon Payne Sr. in the United States in 1932 and marketed in plans form for homebuilding. [1] [2]
It is a conventional biplane design with slightly staggered wings of unequal span. [2] The wings are of fully cantilever design and do not require the bracing wires commonly used on biplanes or even interplane struts; however, most builders brace the wings with I-struts and at least one pair of wires. [3] The cockpit is open, and the undercarriage is of fixed, tailwheel type with divided main units. [2] The wings and horizontal stabilizer are of wooden construction, skinned in plywood, while the fuselage and vertical stabilizer are of welded steel tube covered in fabric. [4]
Payne designed the Knight Twister in 1928 while teaching aircraft design and repair at a school attached to the Aviation Service and Transport Company in Chicago. [5] Construction of a prototype by Payne and his students commenced the following year but ended shortly thereafter when the school was forced to close as a consequence of the Great Depression. [5] Payne began building a second prototype in 1931, which first flew in fall the following year powered by a Salmson 9Ad radial engine. [5] This aircraft was damaged in a forced landing due to fuel exhaustion during a demonstration flight for the press, and parts of the airframe were reused to build the second Knight Twister in 1935. [5] This machine, powered by a converted Ford Model A automobile engine, was built for an Argentine buyer [6] who eventually declined to take delivery. [5] After it had passed through several hands, Payne himself bought the aircraft back after World War II and his son, Richard, was killed in it during a test flight on which the engine failed shortly after take-off. [5]
The Knight Twister built a reputation as a racing aircraft. [5] In 1964, Clyde Parsons flying the "Parsons Twister", won the Sport Biplane Championship race at Reno with a speed of 144.7 mph. [5] [7] In the 1970s, Don Fairbanks competed with a Knight Twister preserved initially at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America museum in Novi, Michigan, [5] and later in the lobby of Sporty's Pilot Shop at Clermont County Airport, Batavia, Ohio [ citation needed ]. Fairbanks set the world record in the sport biplane class of 178 mph (284 km/h) with this aircraft. [5]
The Knight Twister has a reputation as a "handful" to fly, [3] [8] but this has been vigorously denied by both its designer [9] and by Fairbanks. [10] Both men have attributed this reputation to the controls being lighter and more responsive than those of the light aircraft that most pilots are more familiar with.
In the 1990s, the rights to the design were acquired by Steen Aero, who continue to offer plans for sale in 2009. [5]
Data from: "Knight Twister Historical Information" (except as noted)
Data fromJane's All the World's Aircraft 1977–78, p.552
General characteristics
Performance
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
The Sequoia Falco is an Italian-designed lightweight 2-seater aerobatic aircraft.
The Pitts Special is a series of light aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, remain potent competition aircraft in the lower categories.
The T-211 is a light aircraft designed in the US by John Thorp in 1945. It is a low-wing monoplane of conventional layout with fixed tricycle undercarriage and a sliding canopy. John Thorp developed the Sky Scooter with lessons learned from developing the Lockheed Little Dipper project in 1944. It bears some family resemblance to the Piper Cherokee, a design that Thorp later contributed to significantly.
The Bellanca 14-7 Junior and its successors were a family of light aircraft manufactured in the United States by Bellanca Aircraft Corporation shortly before World War II. They were followed post-war by the Bellanca 14-13 and its derivatives.
The Christen Eagle, which later became the Aviat Eagle in the mid-1990s, is an aerobatic sporting biplane aircraft that has been produced in the United States since the late 1970s.
The Parsons-Jocelyn PJ-260 was an aerobatic biplane aircraft built in the United States to participate in the 1962 World Aerobatic Championships in Budapest. It served as the prototype for a family of closely related aircraft produced under designer Nick D'Apuzzo's name as the D-260 and D-295 Senior Aero Sport', D-200 Junior Aero Sport and the D-201 Sportwing which were marketed for homebuilding. The original PJ-260 was named for the pilots who commissioned the aircraft and hoped to compete with it, Lindsey Parsons and Rod Jocelyn. The PJ-260 and its derivatives were conventional short-coupled biplanes with fixed tailwheel undercarriage. The single-bay, equal-span wings were staggered and braced with N-struts, and the outer panels of the upper wing were swept back. The fuselage construction was of fabric over a steel-tube framework, and the wings were of fabric-covered wooden spars and metal ribs.
The Dyke JD-2 Delta is an American homebuilt aircraft designed in the United States in the 1960s and marketed for amateur construction. It is a monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage and seating for four. The wings can be folded for towing or storage and hinge upwards to lie flat above the fuselage, one atop the other. Construction is of SAE 4130 grade steel tube framework with fiberglass and fabric skins.
The EAA Biplane is a recreational aircraft that was designed by the Experimental Aircraft Association in the United States and marketed as plans for home-built aircraft.
The Great Lakes Sport Trainer is an American biplane trainer and aerobatic aircraft. It was originally produced in large numbers before the company building it went bankrupt in the Great Depression in 1933. Owing to its continuing popularity, however, it was eventually placed back into production in the 1970s and again in 2011 by WACO Classic Aircraft.
The Piel CP.60 Diamant is a single-engine light aircraft designed in France in the 1960s and marketed for home building.
The Steen Skybolt is an American homebuilt aerobatic biplane. Designed by teacher Lamar Steen as a high school engineering project, the prototype first flew in October 1970.
The Smith DSA-1 Miniplane is a single-seat, single-engine sport aircraft designed in the United States in the 1950s and marketed for home building.
The Wag-Aero CUBy is a replica of the Piper J-3, designed by Dick Wagner and marketed by Wag-Aero of Lyons, Wisconsin as plans or in kit form.
The Dream Tundra is a robust, single-engine, high-wing monoplane designed in Canada. Seating four, its short takeoff and landing characteristics can be adapted to land, snow, or water use. It is produced as a kit for homebuilding.
The Westfall Sport is a single seat biplane modeled after the Waco F2.
The Tecnam 2010 is a four-seat, high wing, single engine light aircraft of mixed metal and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer construction. Designed and built in Italy, it was first presented in public in April 2011.
The Ultimate Aircraft 10 Dash is a Canadian single-seat sport and aerobatic biplane designed and built by Ultimate Aircraft Corporation of Guelph, Ontario.
The MSW Votec 221 is a single engine, single seat kitbuilt light-sport aircraft, designed and built in Switzerland.
The Lancair 200 and Lancair 235 are a family of American amateur-built aircraft that were designed by Lance Neibauer and produced by his company, Lancair of Redmond, Oregon. The Lancair 200 was initially called the Lancer 200, but the name was changed due to a naming conflict. It was first shown at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in July 1985. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit, for amateur construction.
Marcel Jurca, was a prolific designer of homebuilt aircraft in France. He is most well known for his Tempête and Sirocco designs.
