Project Gallery
Knight Twister
Here are some of the projects that our customers have been working on. Do you have a plane flying, being restored, or under construction? We’d love to hear about it! Before sending us digital pictures, please read the file submission guidelines first. Then let us know!
Harley W. Jetzer’s 1/3 scale R/C Knight Twister
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- Here is the Twister under construction. Though it’s a one-third scale plane, it’s still a relatively compact airplane!
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- What a beauty! It looks like it just taxied in after a trip to Oshkosh.
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- Ready to go again…
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- She even looks fast while resting.
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- Hale was a world-class scale modeler. We think he would be very proud to see this fine model of his Twister!
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- CONTACT!
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- The KT’s classic lines really stand out.
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- By way of comparison, here is the original N30KT, with Hale at the controls.
Back in October of 2003 we were contacted by Harley W. Jetzer in Switzerland, who asked if we could help him with an intriguing project – a 1/3 scale R/C Knight Twister model. Harley is a certified bipe lover – he has around FORTY biplane models, all ready to fly! They range from a 20-inch Bücker up to a 10-foot Stearman, and also include 6 Pitts, a Starduster Two, a Skybolt, among many others. (This is a man after our own hearts.) We sent him some info, and lo and behold, in July 2004 he sent us some photos of the result of his work. As you can see, it came out beautifully! The plane is a replica of N30KT, the Twister Imperial built by Hale Wallace in the late 1990s (Articles about this plane can be found here and here.)
Harley describes the plane’s flying characteristics as follows: “It’s an excellent straight starter, with good knife edge, sensitive on rudder, fast, perfect inverted, easy to land (except for a tendency to nose over on grass – that’s why I used a flexible laminated part on the top of the rudder), rolls are a bit slow compared to a Pitts but very axial with no tendency of dropping a wing even with the elevator fully up. Turns as usual for bipes, using some rudder and more elevator than usual. Generally a soft-hearted model but with a great speed envelope. A very, very enjoyable and unusual plane for a pilot with a bit of experience with large scale planes and bipes. It should not be compared to a Pitts, it is just as fast but more docile and less twitchy — but also less aerobatic. With the Moki 210 and a 19×8 prop at 8000RPM, I have unlimited vertical.”
Harley also tells us that he can easily transport it – it fits into his van in one piece.
The model was built pretty much to the plans, though Harley recommends to keep it light by carefully selecting the materials. He built all angles according to the drawings (within 1/4°) and the upper wing was built with some washout. The plane is very strong and stiff and Harley says that it can withstand high G’s if properly built. Harley says that “A builder of this design should have a bit of experience with modern materials, e.g. for carbon sandwiches which were used in the front area (the engine and wing part of the fuselage.) The rudder should be made strong with light laminated flexible part on top.”
The specs are as follows:
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Great work, Harley! We’re very impressed!