The Silence Twister is a German ultralight designed by

Silence Aircraft Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the ce ...

for amateur construction, either from plans or kits. The prototype first flew on 30 September 2000.

Design and development

The Twister is a single-seat low-wing monoplane with elliptical wings and tailplane. It has a retractable

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Ter ...

with a fixed tailwheel. The design drew inspiration from the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

, and the shapes of the Twister's wings, fin and tailplane all recall the famous

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

fighter. Designed to take engines up to , the prototype was fitted with a single-rotor

MidWest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

Wankel engine The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. It was invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, and designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. ...

. This compact rotary motor allowed a sleek engine cowling, but the engine was rejected and production aircraft use

Jabiru 2200 The Jabiru 2200 is a lightweight naturally aspirated, pushrod four-stroke, flat four, air-cooled aircraft engine produced by Jabiru Aircraft. Design and development The conventional direct-drive engine is fitted with an alternator, silencers ...

ULPower UL260i The ULPower UL260i is a family of aircraft engines, produced by ULPower in Belgium. Design The UL260i series are all lightweight, four-cylinder, four-stroke, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled, direct drive engine designs that feature FADEC with ...

engines. An

electric aircraft An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity. Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of method ...

version was under development in 2010.

Propeller

The Twister prototype was fitted with Silence Aircraft's own automatic variable-pitch propeller called the " VProp". The LAA have yet to allow the VProp to be fitted on UK aircraft, so UK Twisters have fixed-blade propellers instead.

Operational history

Twenty-one examples had been completed and flown by December 2011.

Variants

;SA155: Initial prototype powered by a

MidWest AE50 The MidWest AE series are lightweight, liquid-cooled, single- and twin-rotor Wankel engines, with dual ignition, designed for light aircraft. They were produced by Mid-West Engines Ltd. at Staverton Airport, Gloucestershire, UK. History This eng ...

Wankel rotary engine. The second prototype was powered by a

Diamond AE50 The Austro Engine EA50R is an Austrian aircraft engine, produced by Austro Engine of Wiener Neustadt for use in motorgliders and UAVs.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', pages 238-239. WDLA ...

engine. ;SA180: powered by a

engine. ;Akron: A version developed for the US market under ''Experimental'' aircraft certification rules.

Specifications (Prototype)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://silence-aircraft.de/en/aircraft/ 2000s German civil utility aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2000