Ivan Pettigrew and his Short Solent Float Plane

This video features legendary designer/builder Ivan Pettigrew flying one of his very popular float planes, the Short Solent 400.
I was invited to visit the Chilliwack Electric Flyers Club to check out the action at the “2017 Ivan Pettigrew Land and Float Fly” at their awesome club in Chilliwack, BC. The highlight of the day was getting to meet Mr. Pettigrew and to watch him fly one of his very popular float plane designs, the Short Solent. The wing span on the Short Solent 400 was kept to 82” to make it easy to transport. Ivan also has plans for a 99” version, the Short Solent 480.
Ivan is just a few ticks of the clock away from his 88th birthday and it was an honor to spend some time with him. I had a chance to shoot a short interview with him that will be uploaded at a later date. Ivan hails from New Zealand and amongst other things, was a school teacher and then a professional pilot who flew missionaries all over South America paving the way for other adventurous pilots that fly from rough, short take off and landing runways as well as flying from runways at extreme altitudes (of more than 14,000 feet)
Here are a couple of links to articles about the real plane that was produced by the Short Brothers in the late 1940’s:
SHORT SOLENT 400
Wing Span 82 in.
Wing area 905 sq. in.
Length 65 in.
Powered by four GWS Speed 400 geared motors.
Weight 83 ozs with eight N-1900 SCR nicads, giving wing loading of 13.2 oz/sq ft.
Flies over 15 minutes on 3,000 NiMH cells!
Ivan’s webpage for his plans: /
Manzano Laser Works - provides laser cutting services to RC modellers. Currently sells a cut file for Ivan's Twin Otter, both the 480 & 600 versions:
Manzano Laser - Twin Otter page
To view models built from Ivan's plans, visit Luke Middleton's thread:
Ivan Pettigrew Planes - Build Threads and Videos
The British have an Ivan fan club, click here to read all about it:
British Ivan Model Builders Organisation (BIMBO) Flyers
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