- quality handcrafted wooden model civilian aircraft -
- quality handcrafted
wooden model civilian aircraft -
Pitts Special S-1S
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Scale 1:14 Length 13.2" Wingspan 14"
Photography by Action Asia Photo |
In 1943 Curtis Pitts built the first of a line of aircraft that dominated aerobatic competition throughout the 1970s and early 1980s - the Pitts Special. The Pitts is the most successful and recognized American built aerobatic design. The prototype, S-1, was wrecked about two weeks after its first flight. Number 2, S-1C, was built in 1946 and flown at air shows for a year by Phil Quigley, an employee of Pitts. In 1948, it was purchased by aerobatic pilot Betty Skelton, who christened it "Little Stinker" and flew it in dozens of air shows. In it, she won the 1949 and 1950 Feminine Aerobatic Championship. That aircraft is now with the National Air and Space Museum. A few Pitts Specials were built by Curtis Pitts himself and others in the 1950s, some for other female aerobatic pilots. But the airplane remained a minor type until the early 1960s when interested amateurs convinced Pitts to produce a fine set of construction drawings. That popular homebuilt version of the airplane was the model S-1C, with two ailerons, M-6 airfoils, and any engine from 85 hp up to 180 hp, the most popular being 125-150-hp Lycomings. The S-1S competition version has four ailerons, symmetrical airfoils and generally, a 180-hp Lycoming engine. The S-1S was granted an Approved Type Certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration and was first built at the Pitts factory in Afton, Wyoming. Several Pitts aircraft designs are now sold by Aviat Aircraft Inc. of Afton, Wyoming. The Pitts remains the standard for advanced aerobatic training. From 1944 to now, the Curtiss Pitts-designed Pitts Special has racked-up more aerobatic victories than any other type of aircraft. Crew:
Pilot only The Aviat Aircraft Inc. range includes: |
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