It has been a pleasure to see this kit made available again by Dan Fedorko at greatflyerrc@yahoo.com. or http://greatflyerrc.com is his web site.
This is one of the few planes that started the funfly craze back in the early 90's. I flew and built them and found they were able to fly low and slow, do extreme aerobatics off the ground and was great on ski's. It is a pod and boom design and V-Tail configuration. It is not designed for high speed flights so a 10-3, 10-4 or 11-3,11-4 pitch prop is used. Because of the huge ailerons and wing cord it could flutter at high speeds, if you load the airframe in manuevers it can be at full throttle. They are powered by a 25-40 2 stroke and a 48 ish 4 stroke also is impressive. The build is straight forward and a beautiful plane is produced.
I elected to make a electric version with a exceed rocket motor 3020-1000 kv and a 2200 3s lipo. It's comparable to a glow in performance I did modify the nose slightly to hold the battery and a firewall mount.
With a computor radio you can enable delta mix for the tail. This enables rudder /elevator control. This allows you to do some super fast direction changes and other rudder controls manuevers. I use elevator/flap mix and delta mix together. Can also program spoilers for stopped descents for spot landings. This plane can be stopped in a headwind and hovered. It flies in wind and will increase your pilot skills. This is a perfect plane to do touch and goes in front of you and close flying It's a blast
Do yourself a favor and contact Dan and order the coolest plane designed.
Any questions I can answer on the build or flying. or contact Dan who has taken on a great challenge for the greatness of this sport to keep it alive for us who enjoy building and flying. He has taken over the Florio Line of planes and is selling the kits and willing to help in any way to make each kit a success.

I've asked Dan to include his other line of Kit's under this post. He has some great plane kits. Help support him.
I'm completing a florio Stuntwagon funfly plane and will post after covered.

Beardiedrg,

Those are some very nice words about the Yankee Twister. I've seen them fly with plenty of modifications and the result is always the same, the darn thing really flies! During those years I experimented with all types of design concepts and wanted do be competitive with the pod and boom, Hershey bar wing airplanes burning up the circut. I tried to do so but wanted to be different and not copy all the look alikes out there. One of the results was the Yankee Twister and am quite proud of that effort. I am also very flattered when ever I see them being flown and popping up on sites like this.

Due to some health issues I can not produce kits any longer and so I hooked up with Dan Fedorko. Dan grew up in my home town and has been a Florio Flyer supporter since I can remember. He builds a nice airplane and has great attention to detail. Dan is producing kits(as per our agreement) just as they were designed, although I think he may do some laser cutting in the future the designs will remain true to the original.

I have one of the first kits Dan produced and it is just wonderful, showing the same quality in cutting and wood selection you all remember from the original kits.

I am so happy that Dan is going to keep the Florio Flyer kits flying so to speak! I had considered many options when faced with what I was going to do to satisfy the demand for Florio Flyer kits and could not have found a better person to do so in Dan. Please give Dan a call or contact him via email for the complete line of Florio kits. Help him "Preserve the Fun Fly Tradition!!!

I still remain active with Dan and now I get to do the fun part DESIGN and BUILD! His calls, questions and ideas keep me positive!

Great job on the build Breadiedrg! Something I've learned over the years? Checkerboard, makes all airplanes fly better!!!!! HaHa! Thank you for the kind words and keep up the great work!!!

Jim Florio

Hi Jim,
I've heard alot about you from Dan. I was very excited to get another yankee twister. It was my favorite plane back when they came out. I built a few for friends also. I have asked Dan if a smaller parkfly would be possible of it. Electrics are the craze right now.
Thanks for some great designs and keep the ideas flowing. Alot of folks wonder where all the kits have gone,. I say great planes buying everyone out and shutting them down and china. Hopefully the legend continues on for decades.

Geeeesh, you guys are making me all misty eyed n stuff !
I have to admit that the first time I saw the Yankee Twister I was like " what the heck is that !" Once I built one and flew it, it was like "what have I been missing?" When you get the flaperon mix adjusted just right, that thing will loop sooooo tight. This airplane is so fun to fly , you can't get enough of it. My friend Tim and I take the fuel can and the ignitor out to the line and we will fly and fly and fly till its so dark we cant see it anymore. The Flyer 60 has always been my favorite since I was a kid, but the Yankee twister is needling up close to it.

Just for those who are wondering what's under the covering The pics show my mod for electric and tank area to aloow the 2200 3s lipo to fit and a exceed rocket 3020-1000kv

For all of the florio planes contact Dan. His new website is up and it's http://greatflyerrc.com His kits are topnotch. His service is immediate and help is always around if you need it. I'm familiar with the stuntwagon and Yankee Twister planes and can help if needed.

Here's a couple pics of the stunwagon in progress

Hi Mark,
looks like you did a great job on the planes. I know you finished the Yankee Twister and have been flying it and you must be close to getting the Stunt Wagon done. It sure didn't take you long to build them. Thanks for the great compliments on the kits, I really appreciate that.
The web site is http://greatflyerrc.com/ and still is under construction but there is enough info on it to get started.
The weather has been so nice the last few nights that I finally shut off the saws and did a little flying. I took my electric Nifty 50 and the new Flyer Jr. electric out for a test flight. The Flyer Jr. was another one of John Florio's designs. It's a Flyer .25 with a E-flite .15 out runner and a 2200 mAh lipo in it .Like all of John and Jim's designs,,,it flys great. Now I gotta find a way to kit this one too. I'll have to get some photo's of it too ya. Hope the weather is nice this weekend, gotta get the Twister and Stunt Wagon out.
Talk to ya later, Dan

Hi Dan,
had to break in some motors and course had to make a killer stand to do that. Had some snow and did some twister skiing, it melts as fast as it comes. Now the motors good I'll finish it up, radio is all good, mount the motor etc, Childs play. I'd like to see the new one.
Did Florios do any more tube boom designs? I'll get with you this week.
Mark

Mark,

Here are some other Florio Fun Fly airplanes.

My own Yankee Twister, wish I could take the credit for the building of this one, it was built for me by Ron London a gifted local modeler.

Harold Parker's Coal Hauler, kitted in 1991

The Quickdraw, my favorite of all the fun fly stuff we did. This was the first one, there have been 5 different Quickdraw modifications. The Quickdraw had a flat bottom wing and minimal dihedral. It also had a full flying stabilizer and was the most fun to fly!

The Outlaw was a full flying wing and was a test bed for other flying wing design concepts I explored.

Your Stuntwagon looks great! As soon as they can make electrics sound like a 2 cycle and spew out the smell of burnt castor oil, I'm on board!!!!

Enjoy, Jim

Hi jim,
The outlaw and quickdraw are they available or plans available. Dan and I have talked about a parkfly twister, any thoughts on that. I'll be the guinni pig. I was thinking about that last night wood selection size and such. 36" wingspan, arrowshaft boom,I'm gonna play around after my flying machine is done. By the way the exceed rocket motors 3020-1000kv. I use are 20.00 bucks at hobbypartz and are comparable to a .40. They yank everything around I have. I got the glow fever again and the stuntwagon will have a .46
Let me know about those 2 models please.

Fixed website link for Dan at http://greatflyerrc.com

for the folks who like to snow fly here is my twister on downspout ski's I make. It is a light plane and doesn't sink, made a tail ski out of a 2 liter plastic

Another great kit from Dan at http://greatflyerrc.com.

Built to plans and no modifications added or needed. The wing is glued to the fuselage and radio is inside the bottom part of the wing that the mid section remains unsheeted. It is light but very strong to take abuse from flying. I have powered mine with a .46 which is a little over the recommended. With throttle management and a 11-3 prop should be able to perform any manuever with ease. It has a split tail meaning to control rods are used into one. I used 2 wheel collers and some copper wire wrap and silver solder to join. 2 aileron servos are used and enables elevator/ flap mix, camber, or whatever else your radio can do. It balances a little nose heavy with the .46, after test flight might add a little weight to the tail. The wire gear will take anything. That is two pieces wraped and soldered also, super strong design. It's a unique look and I have seen these fly back in 1993. Very smooth, precise, but open it up and it will dazzel the sky. This is also a perfect canidate for electric conversion. you can make it both by making a plate to attach to the hardwood motor mounts and use the engine screw holes to the plate. I used a micro servo for the throttle and that can be disconnected or removed. The tank compartment will hold the batteries and esc. A little time and effort on your part to make the switch, but can be done. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I have building it.