PL-1 Laminar was designed by Ladislao Pazinany. The prototype PL-1 of 1962 was stressed to nine G’s for aerobatics and featured a low-wing, tricycle-gear configuration with a sliding canopy.
Together with its advanced counterpart, the PL-2, the two Pazmany designs represent more hours flown than any other “amateur built’ aircraft design. Nearly 400 sets of plans were sold for the PL-1 before their sale was discontinued. The fuselage of the plane is all-metal with only flat or single-curvature skins. The wings are built around a single all-metal spar with a leading edge torsion box. In the cabin, seating is side-by-side with dual controls, and there is room for 40 pounds of baggage.
In 1968, a set of drawings were acquired by the Aeronautical Research Laboratory of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force in Taiwan who presented a PL-1, which they built, to Generalisimo Chiang Kai-Shek. Following construction and testing of a prototype it was decided to adopt the type as a basic trainer, and 40 aircraft designated PL-1B have been built for the Chinese Nationalist Air Force and 10 for the Nationalist Chinese Army. In the late l960’s the Nationalist Chinese Air Force acquired plans to build a version of the PL-1 to serve as a primary trainer. Their prototype flew on October 26, 1968, and an additonal 35 aircraft were started that year, and 58 were completed, overall.
The first PL-1 flying in England was Harold Jones G-BDHJ.
Ladislao Pazmany is of Hungarian descent. His family moved to Argentina when he was three and he grew up and was educated there. After obtaining a degree in aero engineering, he worked wherever engineering jobs were available in the unstable economy that prevailed in Argentina at the time.
For nearly a decade he designed aircraft, pipelines, high tension power towers, suspenison bridges, chemical and hydroelectric plants, was an instructor at an aeronautics school.
In May of l956 Paz and his family moved to the U.S. and settled in San Diego where he went to work for Convair. The following month he attended his first EAA Chapter 14 meeting and has been involved in EAA activity ever since. At Convair, he worked on F-102, F-106 and other projects, and founded L. Pazmany & Associates at San Diego, California.
Concurrent with his full time employment he designed he PL-1, which flew for the first time on March 23, 1962, made plans available to homebuilders and wrote the book “Light Airplane Design”.
1980-95: Pazmany Aircraft, P.O. Box 80051, San Diego, CA 92138.
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.
It is a conventional biplane design with slightly staggered wings of unequal span. 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. The cockpit is open, and the undercarriage is of fixed, tailwheel type with divided main units. 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.
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. 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. Payne began building a second prototype in 1931, which first flew in fall the following year powered by a Salmson 9Ad radial engine. 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. This machine, powered by a converted Ford Model A automobile engine, was built for an Argentine buyer who eventually declined to take delivery. 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.
1951 D-1 Knight Twister
The Knight Twister built a reputation as a racing aircraft. In 1964, Clyde Parsons flying the “Parsons Twister”, won the Sport Biplane Championship race at Reno with a speed of 144.7 mph. In the 1970s, Don Fairbanks competed with a Knight Twister preserved initially at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America museum in Novi, Michigan, and later in the lobby of Sporty’s Pilot Shop at Clermont County Airport, Batavia, Ohio. Fairbanks set the world record in the sport biplane class of 178 mph (284 km/h) with this aircraft.
The Knight Twister has a reputation as a “handful” to fly, but this has been vigorously denied by both its designer and by Fairbanks. 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.
KT-125
In the 1990s, the rights to the design were acquired by Steen Aero, who continue to offer plans for sale in 2009.
Variants KT-125 KTS-1 – first prototype with Salmson 9Ad engine (1 built) KTD-2 – second prototype with converted Ford Model A engine designated Douglas Bear (1 built), later redesignated Knight Twister Junior 75-85 KT-50 – version with 50 hp (37 kW) Continental or Franklin engine and 18-ft wingspan KT-75 Knight Twister Junior – version with 75 hp (56 kW) Continental or Lycoming engine and 17 ft 6 in-wingspan KT-80 – version with 80 hp (60 kW) Franklin engine KT-85 – standard version with Continental engine of 85 to 90 hp (63 to 67 kW) and 15-ft wingspan KT-90 – version with 90 hp (67 kW) engine and 15-ft wingspan KTT-90 – version with 90 hp (67 kW) Lycoming engine and 18-ft wingspan KT-95 – version with 95 hp (71 kW) Lambert engine KT-125 – version with 185 hp (138 kW) engine KT-140 – version with 140 hp (104 kW) engine. SKT-125 Sunday Knight Twister – version with 125 hp (93 kW) Lycoming engine and 19 ft 6 in-wingspan KT Imperial – version with engine of 135 to 150 hp (101 to 112 kW) and wing area increased (span: 17 ft 6 in) to comply with Sport Biplane class rules KT Holiday – version with 125 hp (93 kW) engine and wingspan of 19 ft 6 in KT Acro – version with wingspan of 15 ft 6 in KT Coed – version with passenger seat in tandem with pilot’s; wingspan of 22 ft 6 in. Double Twist – A two place model with an untapered 21 ft M6 airfoil. Pretty Prairie Special II model 1 – Straight leg conventionally braced based on a Knight Twister, stretched 16 inches Pretty Prairie Special III – A Menasco powered variant displayed in the EAA Airventure Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin until 2006, and now at the Kansas Aviation Museum.
Payne Knight Twister Span upper: 15.00 ft Span lower: 13 ft Length: 14 ft
Knight Twister Imperial Engine 140-hp Lycoming. Gross Wt. 900-1100 lb Empty Wt. 694 lb Fuel capacity 35 USG Wingspan 17 ft Length 16 ft 1 in Top speed 170 mph Cruise 120 mph Stall 50 mph Climb rate 1000 fpm Takeoff run 475 ft Landing roll 800 ft Range 680 miles
KT-85 Powerplant: 1 × Continental C90 , 90 hp (67 kW) Wingspan: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m) Wing area: 60 sq ft (5.6 m2) Length: 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m) Height: 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) Empty weight: 535 lb (243 kg) Gross weight: 960 lb (435 kg) Maximum speed: 160 mph (257 km/h, 140 kn) Range: 390 mi (625 km, 340 nmi) Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s) Crew: One pilot
Payen then concentrated more on delta aerofoils. After the war Payen built the single-seater jet PA-49, precursor of the “Mirage” series of the planes with delta wing, and two-seater PA-61 “Arbalète”.
Designd by Nicolas Roland Payen, Flechair Sa built Payen’s Pa.49 experimental jet-powered delta-winged aircraft. In May 1951, three workers directed by Payen built the all-wood PA-49 in a month. Reportedly named after Roland Payen’s youngest daughter.
It has a triangular shape or Delta wing, 2.7 m swallow tail. The wing has 72 ° sweep, is 11,250 m² with a wingspan of 5.6 m. This wing has no dihedral. The average profile is a modified NACA the 230000 series. The structure of the wing is built in one piece. The trailing edge has flaps in the central part, equipped with tabs controlled in flight. The control surfaces are statically and dynamically balanced. The structure of the wing, is composed mainly of a working chamber, formed by the assembly of two perpendicular rails and oblique side rails symmetrically joined by two ribs. All wing spars or fins, main or joint, and ribs are made of box spruce (laminated strips) and birch plywood.
While the Pa-49’s inboard elevators and outboard ailerons functioned separately, the rudder doubled as a speedbrake.
The Pa-49 strengthened surfaces ‘split’ open to act as air brakes. This solved the problem of interference between the braking and directional controls on an all-wing aircraft.
It is equipped with a Turbomeca Palas turbine engine. The Turbomeca Palas turbojet engine weighed 159 pounds and producied approximately 330 pounds of thrust, it drew air in through dual intakes at the junction of the wing’s leading edge and fuselage.
Originally designed with a bicycle landing gear that incorporated wing-tip skids, the Pa-49 ultimately flew with fixed tricycle gear.
It was not until the end of 1952 and negotiation for the PA-49 to undergo testing in the wind tunnel of ONERA Chalais-Meudon.
First flown on January 22, 1954, by Tony Ochsenbein, the PA49 was the first French delta-wing aircraft.
The endurance of just over one hou was entirely sufficient for short test flights. It was also sufficient for flights to various airshows and industry expositions, where the aircraft was photographed on several occasions, both on static display and in flight.
Between 1954 and the end of 1958, it made many flights before the project became inactive.
Payen Pa-49B Katy
Fortunately, the Katy survived 300 test flights unscathed, and Payen ultimately donated it to the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace in Paris, where it remains on display today.
Engine: one Turbomeca Palas of 330 lb thrust Wingspan: 16 ft 11 in Length: 16 ft 8 in Height: 7 ft 2 in Empty weights: 1,005 lb Max all-up weight: 1,430 lb Maximum speed: 310 mph Cruise speed: 217 mph Landing speed: 67 mph Initial rate of climb: 1,150 ft/min Ceiling: 27,880 ft Endurance: just over 1 hr Accommodation: single-seat
The Companhia Aeronáutica Paulista CAP-9 Carioca four-seat, single-engine high-wing monoplane with enclosed cockpit and fixed undercarriage, was CAP’s last attempt, in 1947, to remain in the aircraft market. The company had chosen to build the CAP-9 Carioca instead of the CAP-8. The CAP-8 (which reached the prototype stage) was a 4-seater low-wing aircraft and although the prototype was made of wood in order to gain time (the war was about to end but there was still a shortage of aluminum), the idea was to build an all-metal aircraft.
Without commercial success with its new projects and a vertiginous drop in its orders, CAP ends its activities in 1948.
Brazil Companhia Aeronautica Paulista formed at Sao Paulo shortly after the Second World War to produce CAP 1 Planalto low-wing advanced trainer, CAP 4 Paulistinha high-wing cabin monoplane, and similar CAP 5 Carioca. The second was the most successful; improved version later built by Nieva. Company came under control of IPT in late 1940s.
All Aero 