I just came into possession of a Bill Kirn Kansas Twister for Class A. While the plans call out a Fox or SuperTigre engine, the plane is set up for a left side exhaust.

What engine should I be looking for to restore this airplane? It's absolutely beautiful and I'd like to get the engine it was set up for.

That's the only engine I came up with also but I'm not finding much information on those engines. The guy who built and flew it was Joe Simms. This came from his estate along with several other aircraft and engines. It looks like he was a very active flyer with planes in class A, B, C, a couple rat racers and several prototypes.

Here's the Kansas "Twister". You can see the exhaust port on the left side of the cowl.



This is a another plane of his, a class B plane with a Fox 29X BB.



A friend got the class B plane, got the engine freed up. It looks like new and has some crazy compression still. That's a 7 X 10 prop on it.

I'll start looking for a K&B GH for mine. So those were race engines?

I just came into possession of a Bill Kirn Kansas Twister for Class A. While the plans call out a Fox or SuperTigre engine, the plane is set up for a left side exhaust.

What engine should I be looking for to restore this airplane? It's absolutely beautiful and I'd like to get the engine it was set up for.

I agree with Bob. The most logical engine is either a Series 61 or Series 64 K&B 15R. The .19 engine limit was dropped around 1958. K&B Greenheads were used when the .19 was legal. I can't say if a Greenhead .15 was ever run. They were pretty tame.

Check the engine mounting hole dimensions. The K&B F/R spacing is 0.5625. Side-to-side is 1.280. Spacing from the front hole to the rear face of the spinner back plate is 1.2812 (1-9/32).

Series 61 examples seem more available. A good Series 64 is rare and will command a premium price.

I flew a Kansas Twister "A" with a Super Tigre Jubilee 15, circa 1967. It was the first speed model I built. Nothing to write home about but it did fly well. I also flew a "C". Bill McGraw designed all the Kansas Twisters ("A", "B", & "C") with the same wing. Each class did have progressively larger tail feathers.

Good luck with your project.

 

It's 14:00 and you're still drinking coffee? So it's not just an Army thing! 

Here is the front opening in the cowl:



This is the rear opening:



On the inside, there looks to be a cut-out in the left rear for a rear induction intake venture.



I've looked at a couple K&B R15s on ebay and they look like this plane was fitted for one.

Thanks to Ty, I now have the engine that came out of this plane. It is a K&R 15R Series 64! It needs a little work. One back plate screw is broken off and there may be some internal issues but it looks low-time and fixable.

Hi Bill,

The old Chief is a pretty good guy!

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

Hi Bill,

The old Chief is a pretty good guy!

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

You should have seen the look on his face when I said I wanted to fly it!          Priceless