Curtis Pitts
Though later outclassed by newer monoplane designs, Pitts Specials remain popular as sport airplanes for their excellent flying qualities.
[1] The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC has called Curtis Pitts' design "revolutionary because of its small size, light weight, short wingspan and extreme agility".
He designed and built his first aircraft while still in high school, a Parasol wing craft with a modified automobile engine, but Curtis crashed it during taxi tests.
Interested in aerobatics, he managed to purchase a Waco F series biplane, but found the performance of the heavy airplane to be dismal, especially in regards to available power vs. weight.
[3] Curtis shared the project with a friend at the Naval repair depot, Phil Quigley, and the two men devoted all their spare hours over several months turning raw materials into an airplane.
Curtis bought out Stengel's crop dusting and FBO operation in the spring of 1947 and worked to complete Pitts Special #2, carrying registration NX86401.
[6][7] Completed at Gainesville, the second Pitts Special S-1 sported several improvements over the lost prototype, including a 90 hp Continental, a longer fuselage, and a working inverted fuel system.
After completion, Phil Quigley began flying the airplane in airshows and caused a minor sensation in the latter half of 1947 as nothing like the Pitts Special had ever been seen.
[8] In late 1948 airshow promoter Jess Bristow came to Curtis with the idea of marrying a 450 hp Pratt and Whitney 985 radial engine to a scaled up Pitts Special design.
In response, Curtis designed and built the Pitts Samson, a 2,200 lb biplane with a 24-foot wingspan that thrilled airshow crowds for several years in the 1950's.
[9] In 1949 airshow performer and WASP pilot Caro Bayley had the opportunity to fly "Little Stinker" and persuaded Curtis to build her a similar airplane.
[10] An accurate replica of "Black Magic" was built by engineer Ted L. Teach of New Carlisle, Ohio over 30 years and successfully flew in 1999.
[12] For most of the 1950s Curtis did not build any further aircraft and instead re-focused his efforts on running his airport FBO, a crop dusting business ("Pitts' Aero Service"), and raising his family.
In 1955 he moved his operation (and family) south to a grass strip near Homestead, Florida and, for a time, thought his Pitts Special days lay behind him.
Other motivated home builders began putting together their own versions of the Pitts Special S-1, examining "Little Stinker" and dropping in on Curtis for advice and rudimentary plans.
[13] Working with builder Pat Ledford, Curtis and Phil Quigley built a new Pitts Special S-1 and used the process to create detailed, professionally drafted plans.
Home builders immediately began building their own Pitts Specials and plans built S-1C's soon dominated aerobatic competition.
Dubbed the "Big Stinker", Curtis flew the S-2 to that summer's Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in at Rockford, IL.
He initially sold S-1C plans and provided certain specialty parts to builders by request, inviting them to reach out by phone or visit anytime for help completing their projects.
In 1969 three airshow performers, Gene Soucy, Marion Cole, and Bob Heuer, formed a Pitts aerobatic team known as the "Red Devils".
The team continued into the 1970s with Tom Poberezny and Charlie Hillard joining Gene Soucy after Cole and Heuer left.
Pitts Aviation Enterprises began turning out kit versions of the S-1 while continuing to sell S-1C "flat wing" (non-symmetrical airfoil) plans.
Airshow great Art Scholl bought another early S-2A, N13AS, and adapted the airplane to cover the front cockpit and add a single-seat bubble canopy to the rear.
Experimental/amateur built model S-1S aircraft began appearing in large numbers in the early 1970's, but most had home brew wings as Curtis did not initially release plans for them.
By early 1977 Curtis tired of the business and sold off his interest in both Pitts Aviation Enterprises and Aerotek to Doyle Child.
Over the years the Pitts designs have passed through several different hands and the aircraft underwent subtle updates, including a 260 hp two seater, the S-2B.
[23] Curtis always drew small crowds at airshows in his later years, with people more interested in hearing "Pa Pitts'" good-humored stories than watching the show.
Patient, humble, and generous with his time, he made friends easily and his endearing spirit remained unaffected by his minor celebrity.
In the 1980 aviation drama film Cloud Dancer Curtis Pitts appears in a brief scene, played by Woodrow Chambliss.
The boundary between man and machine, between mechanical interest and lifestyle, blurs, and you find yourself part of a community of kindred souls, all of whom have the same father—Curtis Pitts.
