Posted on 06/10/2005 2:37:24 PM PDT by Dashing Dasher
Sadly, my friend is not doing too well, he was exposed to agent orange in the military (he was a scientist, so they had him around the crap), and he is not in great health, but he did get a cover of a magazine and story about the Rutan spaceship getting the prize.
Oh, and next time you fly, fly at www.skyhighairlines.com, home of the cumulative 4 star vacations!
I have two friends that fly them and another who is finishing his. They are SOMETHING ELSE!!!
If you go to :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitts
You'll see a Stinker - the blue and yellow one is my friends.
You nearly run out of sky before you run out of power.
Amazing.
Yes, I have an S1-S...
UPDATE:
Article published Jun 10, 2005
Curtis Pitts, maker of famed aerobatic Pitts Special, dead at 89
MIAMI Curtis Pitts, who created the popular aerobatic biplane known as the Pitts Special, died Friday, his family said. He was 89.
Pitts died in a hospital on Friday of complications from a heart valve replacement, said his daughter, Martha Holder.
In 1943, Pitts, of suburban Homestead, built the first Pitts Special.
"Pitts began with an idea for an aerobatic aircraft that would defy gravity and be crisp on the controls," the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington says on its Web site. "The resulting Pitts Special was revolutionary because of its small size, lightweight, short wingspan, and extreme agility."
Each part of the plane can be broken down and shipped in pieces as a kit, reassembled at home by the owner.
The prototype Pitts, S-1, was severely damaged shortly after its first flight.
The oldest surviving Special, called The Little Stinker, is also the smallest Pitts aircraft, and when constructed in 1946 was the smallest aerobatic plane anywhere, the museum said.
Aerobatic pilot Betty Skelton won several championships in the late 1940s and into the '50s with The Little Stinker, bringing attention to the design.
But the Pitts Specials really took off in the 1960s when people who were impressed by Skelton's flying persuaded Pitts to create and sell construction drawings, the museum said.
In 1966, Bob Herendeen was named U.S. National Aerobatic Champion in his Pitts, the museum said, solidifying the plane's reputation.
The museum said the Special is still the most successful and recognized American-built aerobatic design, and it continues to dominate aerobatic competitions.
Pitts' daughter said she will remember Pitts "as my father, the most understanding man in the world ... and the wisest and gentlest."
Pitts is survived by his two daughters, eight grandchildren, six great grandchildren and six great, great grandchildren, Holder said.
Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.
---
On the Web: www.nasm.si.edu
The Stetson is tilted in observance of the passing of yet another aviation icon.
Yours', Dasher, is to take Ruby up in a tribute....
And "Fiddlers Green", that Land of Aviators' Past, certainly has a special place for him.
What model radial powers the Model 14?
Scratch the question, double D. A couple of clicks of the mouse led me to the Romanian-built, 400hp Vendenyev engine.
I believe it's the Vendenyev M14p.
Same engine that is on the YAKs and the Sukhois.
Eh, what a decent man, what an American, what a humble genius. He's probably got the angels flying inverted by now.
Even as the high-powered Eastern European monoplanes (and their western siblings like the CAP 232 and Zivko Edge) blew the Pittses out of the upper classes, Pitts Specials rock on. I never heard of anybody buying an Edge 540 for the sheer hell of it; but what's the most common reason for shelling out for a single-seat Pitts? "Cause I wanna!" -- and somewhere in Valhalla, I hope Curtis is grinning.
And his designs hae been great for others to improvise upon -- there's scarcely a stock S-1 in the sky -- and he's given a livelihood to hundreds, including the workers at Aviat in Afton, WY, and many others.
The Kimballs are building a single-seat, ultra-lightweight version of the Model 12 that they call the "Pitts Python." It looks like an S-1S in plan or side view (but has that big radial). Part of the plan is to develop data that can be used towards an unlimited aerobatic monoplane built on Model 12 technology. "A biplane will never match the roll rate of a monoplane. There's too much mass to get going," Kevin Kimball says. "But I prefer the biplane."
It was a classic from the first one that Curtis built, and it will be a classic fifty years from now when the cutting-edge unlimited aerobatic mounts of today are of interest only to historians.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Here here!
Thank you for writing that monologue about Curtis. I am one of the lucky ones - to be able to own and fly a little Pitts Special is a priviledge. Those of us who love them are a tight knit bunch and we share our lust for life and inverted flight.
It sounds like you know your way around the Aresti Code.
FReepmail me if you are interested in sharing more information. Including - what the heck does "d.o.l." mean?!
Dasher
Oh, how I wish. I am but a struggling FBO owner (part owner, even). I have been around aviation in some capacity or other all my life, practically. Only my brother never took up flying, and that's because he wants to wait till he retires and start with helicopters (daft) by building one from a kit (doubly daft. And I love rotorcraft, but).
OTOH, said brother informed me today that I was not one to preach on mechanical reliability of motorized objects, seeing that I have three registered cars, all defunct today.
Now, you are clearly a competitor in acro, but also in racing? Biplane class seems like fun, but are there any events but Reno? At least IF1 there are a few places one can go. But (my opinion) a Cassutt is to a Pitts ... well, it's all the work and half the fun.
FReepmail me if you are interested in sharing more information. Including - what the heck does "d.o.l." mean?!
My nick and signoff here comes from my (now part-time) military service and is a bunch of interlocking code fragments that let people with a similar background figure it out. I have promised my fellow FReepers to "out" myself when I hang up my uniforms. I'm not famous or anything.
Some of the other flying and/or warring FReepers do know me in meatworld...
d.o.l. -- and blue skies (in your case blue earth, green sky?)
Criminal Number 18F
PS All FReepers who are in the "gun culture" ought to know that John Ross flies a Pitts Model 12.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
UPDATE:
Here is the info on the arrangements for Curtis.
Curtis Pitts passed away on June 10, 2005. He was 89+ at the time.
Services will be held as follows:
Palms Woodlawn Funeral Home, 27100 Old Dixie Highway, Naranja, FL 33032-7321
Ph-305-2474218,
Viewing Tuesday 4-9 PM,
Funeral "A celebration of Life" Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at 11 AM.
Sir I want to thank you. Curtis Pitts is my Great Grandfather and I am currently here in Florida for his services. These postings are such a comfort to me and to my family during this huge time of loss.
He was an incrediable man very well known for his planes, (as is evident by these postings) but to me he was simply just "Big Papa". The truely amazing aspect of my Great Grandfather was his patience. Home builders would call and ask about certain aspects of the plans and my great grandfather would sit and talk with them and help them to the best of his ability. For that reason most people he knew, feel as though they have lost their "best friend".
Although I never had the pleasure of one of his fishing trips those reletives who did would say that it was the greatest fishing trip in the world and both my uncle and my dad have said that the snapper population has increased in the last month due to his retirement.
I can't even begin to say enough about this man, and many of you may be picturing him flying in the skies, but i will leave you with this memory of him. In the story of my Papa's life the planes and fishing trips would jazz up the movie, but the true epic was his love for my "Big Mama". So my picture of him is the huge celebration that is occuring now that they have been re-united, maybe they are out flying as we speak. Thank you so very much for your love, support and prayers for my Papa and my family, they are so very much appreciated.
I wish I could be there. I wish I could fly my beloved Pitts Special in his Memorial tomorrow. I wish I would have had the chance to meet him.
He will forever be in my thoughts.
(PS... I'm female - but get the Sir thing all the time.
I'm glad to know his Great Grandson is a FReeper!)
Another great article about Curtis Pitts...
Planes designed by legendary pioneer often flown in Nevada
david henley
June 17, 2005
Fallon-area pilots and aviation enthusiasts are noting the recent death of famed aircraft designer Curtis Pitts, whose "Pitts Special II" biplane has been flown in numerous air races and stunt demonstrations in Nevada and across the world.
Pitts, 89, who died last week of complications of a heart valve replacement, was internationally-respected and acknowledged as a prime designer of aerobatic aircraft, said Fallon pilot and aviation photographer John Grainer, whose photos of the Reno Air Races and other regional air shows have appeared in this newspaper.
"Curtis Pitts' biplanes also have flown in stunt demonstrations at NAS Fallon air shows and other aviation events in Northern Nevada and Eastern California," Grainer added.
Frank B. Mormillo, another aviation photographer who has taken photos for the Lahontan Valley News as well as numerous U.S. and foreign flying publications, told me that the Pitts airplane is the "standard" for aerobatic racing and stunt flying.
"In the biplane class at the Reno Air Races. At least half of the planes are Pitts Specials. Some are one-seaters, and others are two-seaters, and they come with a variety of engines and modifications.
"They reach speeds from 150 to 200 miles per hour, and in the Reno races they are flown in the Small Biplane Class along a 3.1 mile course during the competitions at Stead airport," Mormillo added.
Pitts, who died at his home in Homestead in Florida, began his aviation career as a cropduster, and started development on his Pitts Special in 1941, said photojournalist Mormillo.
But because of interruptions caused by World War II, he wasn't able to complete the airplane's design until 1945.
In 1949, the plane, which had a wingspan of only 17 feet, was flown by famed aviatrix Betty Skelton who went on to win the world's women championship.
During the Cold War, Pitts were modified to provide heftier power plants and were able to compete with Soviet-built planes, and soon Pitts was selling construction drawings and complete kits of the aircraft that were shipped to pilots around the world.
According to another aviation writer, John Ross, the Pitts Special "was embarrassing competitors" with its 180-horsepower engine, its "amazing" power-to-weight ratio, and its airframe that was tremendously strong.
"The 690-pound Pitts was a little buzz bomb that could fly farther than the competition, perform tighter maneuvers, and do them more quickly," writes Ross.
Pitts, whose first airplane was dubbed the "Little Stinker," did all of his design and construction work on his planes through the years at a cluster of tin hangars adjacent to a grass runway near his home in Florida.
When Hurricane Andrew, the most destructive hurricane on record blasted its way across South Florida and Louisiana on Aug. 24, 1992 (the storm recorded gusts of 150 mph, caused 23 deaths and $26.5 billion in damage), Pitts' hangars and many of his planes practically disappeared during the carnage.
Undaunted, entrepreneur Pitts, who was then 72, replaced his blown away tin hangars with concrete structures and soon completed the prototype of his new "Super Stinker," which is larger, faster and more capable of reaching greater heights.
For those Nevadans interested in seeing the Pitts Specials take to the skies, there are four upcoming opportunities in the next four months. They are the Aug. 27 Wendover show, the Sept. 14-18 Reno Air Races, the Oct. 8-9 Las Vegas Air Show, and the Nov. 12-13 Nellis Air Force Base show.
Pitts planes also can be seen frequently taking off and landing at the Fallon Airport and nearby fields in Fernley, Silver Springs, Carson City and Yerington.
Not all Pitts aircraft are used for stunt and air show work.
In the 1980s, for example, a Pitts Special was routinely piloted by Tonopah physician Dr. Ron Shemenski who often flew to isolated communities and ranches to tend patients unable to travel to the Nye County hospital where he worked.
Readers of this column may recall Shemenski's name, for he made international headlines in 2001 when he was resident physician at the U.S. scientific headquarters at the South Pole.
Shemenski became ill with pancreatitis, and was flown out in a small plane for treatment in Chile during a snowstorm, in the dark, and in temperature that registered minus-65 degrees. He recovered and today recalls his Nevada and South Pole experiences as the highlights of his medical career.
Meanwhile, pioneer airplane inventor on Pitts will be remembered for his noteworthy gifts to world aviation.
In a Las Vegas ceremony a few years ago, in which Pitts was inducted into the International Council of Air Shows Hail of Fame, he was presented with a citation which said, in part:
"Curtis Pitts and his little airplane completely rewrote the aerobatic history books and opened the world of serious aerobatics and pure high performance to the masses.
"As a result of his efforts, individuals with dedication and a yearning for the third dimension can take his drawings and convert them into an aircraft that will take their breath away."
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