The Piuma Twin Project was finished in 1998, and since August 2005 is available in fair copy.

The plans and the construction book in english are available since 1999 and a lot of construction are started in Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, USA and Brasil. In October 2005 only one Piuma APS is already flying in Italy.

The author prototype construction is moving forward slowly, beacause this is just a hobby for him. However, when some new photos are ready, they will be put in the gallery site.

A lot of friends asked me a two seat motorglider and also for me the wish of a two seat has grown during the last years; in the January 1998 the project and the drawings started.

I decided for a side-by-side one, with similar characteristics of the Tourer Piuma, with the same wings profiles; in other words I looked for a motorglider with the "Fournier philisophie" rather than a glider with the engine. Nevertheless I also planned a long wing version for the pilots that prefer soaring.
This wing is in the drawing n.21, enclosed in the plans; the efficiency increases to 20 in comparison with 18 of the normal version.

The "Fournier philosophie" allows a quite fast flying with a little engine, economical in the purchase and in the use; the 503 Rotax with 1 carburettor is enough for this motorglider.

The comfort is treated with due consideration, because this Piuma Twin is born for the tourism; the two seats cabin is cm 110 wide (about 43 inches) and the seats are very comfortable and padded.

There are 2 rudder-bars and only one cloche in the middle of the 2 seats; the throttle, brake and aerodynamic brake levers are only on the left of the pilot, but it is not difficult to make the same for both the seats.

The pilotage position is similar to a comfortable car, with the cloche in place of the gear-lever and the rudeder-bars in place of the rudder-brakes.

The 22 drawings (three more in the 2007 version) are very detailed (the wing's ribs and the tail's ribs are in the 1-1 scale and the same for the metallic parts); then the construction is easy, if the drawings are carefully examined.

The construction book helps you to follow a logical order in the job and gives you a useful advice in the more complicate stages; the materials note is detailed and complete. There are also some advices for the instruments: the n.8 drawing show the instrument panel.

From the 2003 plans it is possible to build four versions of Piuma Twin:

1. Touring Version: 12,5 mt (41 feet) wing span; it is the more suitable for tourism.

2. Soaring Version: 13,8 mt (45 feet) wing span; the wings are a new project and new calculations: it is on the drawing n.21. The best L/D increased from 18 to 20, with a little less VNE and a little more empty weight.

3. A.P.S. Version (Author Personal Size): 13 mt (42' 7") wing span; the fuselage is 2 cm (3/4") less wide and the aft part is more tapering. The L/D is about 19.

4. Version 2007: it allows you to build your own Twin version according to your needs; more in detail, thanks to the three new drawings (23, 24 and 25), you can:

   1. build a new wing with two exchangeable ending parts to achieve a wing span of 12,80 mt or 13,60 mt (max 14,00 mt); a new spar is needed. The best L/D is 20 for the shorter wing and 22 for the longer one.

   2. cover the whole wing with ply-wood and glass (or carbon) fiber, getting a finitura close to the composito wings; the new VNE is 120 mph (190 km/h).

   3. build new carbon winglets with high efficiency.

   4. build new air-brakes, with a different location and a new movement mechanism.

   5. build wing tanks, saving space in the fuselage for baggage and parachute.

Wing Span Wing Area Lenght Height Empty Weight Gross Weight Fuel Capacity HP/HP Range VNE Top speed Cruise Stall Stall full flaps L/D Aspect ratio Min.Sink Rate Load factors max. Serv. Ceeling Bldg Material Bldg Time (man hours) Take-off distance Landing distance

41 ft. 125 sq.ft. 20.7 ft 5.9 ft 490 lbs. 910 lbs. 11 gal 50 115 mph. 100 mph. 92 mph. 43 mph. 34 mph. 18/1 13.5 240 ft/min. + 4   -1.2 12.000 ft. WF 1.200 400 ft. 400 ft.

12.5 mt 11.6 mq 6.3 mt 1.8 mt 220 kg 410 kg 40 lt 45/60 180 Km/h 160 Km/h 145 Km/h 69 Km/h 54 Km/h     1.2 mt/sec   3600 mt Legno/tela   120 mt 120 mt

The Piuma Twin construction plans are composed of 22 drawings with references in italian and english and a 38 pages handbook in english. This book contains a lot of information and gives useful advices during the construction; there is also a detailed and complete material note.

The tail boom in Aluminium 6005-T16 is also available: diameter mm 127 - thickness mm 1,5 - lenght m 5,2.

To make the Twin you need mt 5,2 and mt 2,6 more.

The wing profiles are the same of the Tourer Piuma.