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The Little Stinker
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| The Little Stinker |
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The Pitts S-1S Special biplane reigned as the ultimate competition aerobatic aircraft in the early 1970s. The U.S. Aerobatic Teams of 1970 and 1972 won the world team championships flying the Pitts S-1S almost exclusively. It remains one of the world's most popular aircraft for basic to advanced category competition, aerobatic training, and sport flying.
In 1960 Curtis Pitts introduced the homebuilt Pitts S-1S as a more competitive version of the S-1C Pitts Special, a small but highly maneuverable aerobatic biplane. The agile S-1S has four ailerons to boost the roll rate, and its symmetrical airfoils allow it to perform maneuvers in any orientation. The S-1S went into factory production in 1972.
The prototype, S-1, was wrecked about two years after its first flight. Number 2, S-1C, with a slightly longer wing and fuselage and a Continental C-85-F5 engine, was built in 1946 and was given the experimental registration number NX86401. Aerobatic pilot Betty Skelton purchased this aircraft and gave it a new registration number, N22E, and a name, The Little Stinker. It is also in the NASM collection. Skelton and Caro Bayley both flew Pitts Specials to win women's championship titles in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Pitts later drew up plans for homebuilders.
The Pitts design continued to draw interest from aerobatic pilots but Curtis Pitts realized that he needed to modify the S-1C to make it competitive on the international scene. The result was the S-1S in 1960. Pitts built the first models for Bob Herendeen, Mary Gaffaney, Gene Soucy, Tom Poberezny, and a friend built one for Charlie Hillard. |
| Keywords: |
Air, and, Space, museum, dulles |
| Date: |
03.02.2012 17:14 |
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