The Pitts Special Whiffs

[McColm]

Its 70 years since the first Curtis Pitts flew his new bi-plane the Jeep but had to change the name as Art Chester called his racer the Chester Jeep. There was a kit available from 1962 which spurned countless sub-variants.
The obvious choice would be to base the design on any of the piston engined fighters/ground attack aircraftof WWII.
Thinking outside the box early jet fighters could get that bi-plane look. If you insist floats/skis can be added.

[tahsin]

In one of his books Mike Spick has an argument he had with an USAFE Aggressor pilot he said turning ability was all important. To which Spick retorted with advising putting Sidewinders on a Pitts. It's JMN proof, you will have a book to prove it.

[maxmwill]

Well, many years ago, some time during the 80s, Phil Kraft put a Pratt and Whitney 985 on the nose of a Pitts Special, and ended up with a little flying machine that could practically jump off the runway, but couldn't taxi very fast, otherwise the prop would hit the ground hard.

That was the rumor I'd heard while working at one FBO in Washington state, and this was long before the internet was even some nerd's wet dream. So, doing a little digging, since reading this thread jogged that memory a bit, I found that it wasn't Phil Kraft, but someone named Jess Bristow, and the bird was called "The Big Pitts", and had a 985 in the nose:

Modifications[edit]
Samson
The "Big Pitts", it had a 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985, originally designed for Jess Bristow and was used as an air show airplane.[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitts_Special

And, as I can't find anything else out about that, doing a bit more digging, I found these on the Pitts:

http://www.jimkimballenterprises.com/web/index.php

http://www.steenaero.com/Pitts14/

[pyro-manic]

There is now a Samson II version with a radial. Quite a handsome thing it is, too!


http://www.airliners.net/photo/Split-Image-Aerobatic/Pitts-Samson-II/2281615/M/

[perttime]

http://www.jimkimballenterprises.com/web/index.php

Pitts Model 12, with the Vedeneyev radial, is pretty cool - except I prefer singleseaters, and Model 12 is big for a single.

I wonder how close to the size of a Pitts S1 you could get with a big engine...

[McColm]

Thanks for the replies and info.

[Captain Canada]

Wow. Never seen the radial before ! Looks like a powerful machine !

I had built a pair of kits as a kid...had hours of fun flying them around the house !

[Mossie]

Pitts

Agree.   Fond memories of watching the Royal Jordanian Falcons Pitts Specials.

[perttime]

I remember this Pitts S1 from when I was a kid:



In this photo, she's 41 years old (recently overhauled). With 160 or 180 hp engines, these small ones do quite well, as long as you don't load them with unnecessary accessories. The owner of this one said he has a fixed pitch prop on it for saving weight.