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24-488: The Pitts Special (company designations S-1 and S-2 ) is a series of light aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts . It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, remain potent competition aircraft in the lower categories. Curtis Pitts began the design of a single-seat aerobatic biplane in 1943–1944. The design has been refined continuously since

48-596: A 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m) wingspan, or as the S-2 two-seater variant featuring a 260 hp (194 kW) flat-6 Lycoming and a 20 ft (6.1 m) wingspan. Pitts Specials have been equipped with engines of up to 450 hp (338 kW). Plans for the single-seat Pitts S-1S are also available from Aviat Aircraft. The S-1C and derivative S-1SS plans and kits are supplied by Steen Aero Lab in Palm Bay, Florida . Many hundreds of homebuilders have successfully completed and flown

72-544: A complete aerobatic sequence for entertainment or competition. Aerobatic flying requires a broader set of piloting skills and exposes the aircraft to greater structural stress than for normal flight. In some countries, the pilot must wear a parachute when performing aerobatics. Aerobatic training enhances a pilot's ability to recover from unusual flight conditions, and thus is an element of many flight safety training programs for pilots. While many pilots fly aerobatics for recreation, some choose to fly in aerobatic competitions ,

96-473: A judged sport. In the early days of flying, some pilots used their aircraft as part of a flying circus to entertain. Maneuvers were flown for artistic reasons or to draw gasps from onlookers. In due course some of these maneuvers were found to allow aircraft to gain tactical advantage during aerial combat or dogfights between fighter aircraft. Aerobatic aircraft fall into two categories—specialist aerobatic, and aerobatic capable. Specialist designs such as

120-584: A large variety of aircraft. The main competitors are the Continental IO-520 and IO-550 series. An AEIO version was developed for high-performance competition aerobatics aircraft. Starting at 260 hp (190 kW) the power was eventually increased to 300 hp (220 kW). The AEIO-540 family has achieved considerable success in aircraft such as the Extra 300 , CAP 232 , and Zivko Edge 540 . All engines have an additional prefix preceding

144-494: A number of homebuilt aircraft were produced from rough hand-drawn plans produced by Pitts, more professionally drawn plans went on sale in 1962. While many homebuilt aircraft were built in the 1960s, earning the S-1 a reputation as an excellent aerobatic aircraft, Pitts worked on the design of a two-seat aerobatic trainer version, the S-2, which first flew in 1967 and gained its type certificate in 1971. Factory-built aircraft produced by

168-552: Is due to the ability to limit blood pooling for positive g maneuvers, but it is generally accepted that +9 g for more than a few seconds will lead to loss of consciousness (also known as GLOC ). Aerobatics are most likely to be seen at public airshows in the form of stunt flying. Aerobatic competitions usually do not attract large crowds of spectators since the manoeuvers are flown at safe altitudes to avoid accidents. Lycoming IO-540 Producing between 230 and 350 horsepower (170 and 260 kW) these engines are installed in

192-659: The Farnborough Airshow in September 1957. Aerobatics are taught to military fighter pilots as a means of developing flying skills and for tactical use in combat. Many aerobatic manoeuvres were indeed developed in military conflicts, e.g. the Immelmann turn or Split S . Aerobatics and formation flying is not limited solely to fixed-wing aircraft; the British Army , Royal Navy , Spanish Air Force and

216-546: The Indian Air Force , among others, have helicopter display teams. All aerobatic manoeuvres demand training and practice to avoid accidents . Accidents due to aerobatic manoeuvres are very rare in competition aerobatics; most of them happen when performing formation flying or stunt flying at very low levels at airshows or air racing . Low-level aerobatics are extremely demanding and airshow pilots must demonstrate their ability before being allowed to gradually reduce

240-534: The MBB Bo 105 , are capable of limited aerobatic manoeuvres . An example of a fully aerobatic helicopter, capable of performing loops and rolls, is the Westland Lynx . Most aerobatic manoeuvres involve rotation of the aircraft about its longitudinal (roll) axis or lateral (pitch) axis. Other maneuvers, such as a spin , displace the aircraft about its vertical (yaw) axis. Manoeuvres are often combined to form

264-889: The Pitts Special , the Extra 200 and 300 , and the Sukhoi Su-26 M and Sukhoi Su-29 aim for ultimate aerobatic performance. This comes at the expense of general purpose use such as touring, or ease of non aerobatic handling such as landing. At a more basic level, aerobatic capable aircraft, such as the Cessna 152 Aerobat or the R2160 Acrobin , can be dual purpose—equipped to carrying passengers and luggage, as well as being capable of basic aerobatic figures. Flight formation aerobatics are flown by teams of up to sixteen aircraft, although most teams fly between four and ten aircraft. Some are state funded to reflect pride in

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288-412: The armed forces while others are commercially sponsored. Coloured smoke trails may be emitted to emphasise the patterns flown and/or the colours of a national flag. Aerobatic maneuvers flown in a jet-powered aircraft are limited in scope as they cannot take advantage of the gyroscopic forces that a propeller driven aircraft can exploit. Jet-powered aircraft also tend to fly much faster, which increases

312-752: The Aerotek company at Afton, Wyoming were joined in production by the single-seat S-1S in 1973. In 1972, the US Aerobatic Team won the World Championships flying only Pitts biplanes. In 1977 Curtis Pitts sold his interests in the Pitts S-1 and S-2 to Doyle Child. Child later sold the rights in 1981 to Frank Christensen, who continued production at the Afton plant under the guise of Christen Industries. The rights for homebuilt versions of

336-729: The Olympic games, and are governed by the FAI Aerobatics Commission (CIVA) Competitions start at Primary, or Graduate level (in UK "Beginners") and proceed in complexity through Sportsman (in UK "Standard"), Intermediate and Advanced, with Unlimited being the top competition level. Experienced aerobatic pilots have been measured to pull ±5 g for short periods while unlimited pilots can perform more extreme maneuvers and experience higher g levels -possibly up to +8/−6 g. The limits for positive g are higher than for negative g and this

360-724: The Pitts name is currently owned by Aviat which also owns the similar model to the Pitts in the Christen Eagle . The current inverted flat spin world record is 98 set on March 20, 2016 by air show performer Spencer Suderman over Yuma, Arizona . Suderman flew the Sunbird S-1x, a Lycoming IO-540 -powered experimental variant of the Pitts S1. The maneuver began from 24,500' over the Yuma Proving Grounds and

384-460: The Pitts since plans became available in 1960. All single-seat (S-1) and two-seat (S-2) Pitts Specials are variations of the basic design from 1944. The aircraft was popularized by Betty Skelton , Caro Bayley , and other air show performers, which led to the offering of plans in 1962. Pitts produced limited numbers of aircraft during the 1940s and 1950s. The Pitts Special became the standard by which all other aerobatic aircraft were judged. After

408-407: The Pitts were sold in 1994 to Steen Aero Lab , with the Afton factory and production rights being transferred to Aviat . Curtis Pitts died in 2005 at age 89. At the time of his death, he was working with Steen on the prototype of the new Pitts Model 14, a brand new, two-seat biplane designed for unlimited aerobatics powered by the 400  horsepower Vedeneyev M14P radial engine . The rights to

432-587: The World's Aircraft 1988–89 General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment, and sport. Additionally, some helicopters , such as

456-434: The aircraft. Due to safety concerns, the smoke is not a result of combustion but is produced by the vaporization of fog oil into a fine aerosol , achieved either by injecting the oil into the hot engine exhaust or by the use of a dedicated device that can be fitted in any position on the aircraft. The first military aerobatic team to use smoke at will during displays was Fleet Air Arm 702 Squadron " The Black Cats " at

480-463: The height at which they may fly their show. In the EU, flying aerobatics requires special training and a rating. In Canada, no licence is required to perform aerobatics, but to carry passengers during aerobatics a pilot must have at least 10 hours dual flight instruction of aerobatic manoeuvres, or 20 hours of total aerobatic experience. Aerobatic flying competitions are a worldwide phenomenon, rather like

504-399: The prototype first flew in September 1944; however, the current Pitts S-2 still remains quite close to the original in concept and in design. Several of the aircraft that Curtis Pitts built had a picture of a skunk on them and were called "Stinkers". After she bought it, aerobatic performer Betty Skelton called the second aircraft that Curtis built, "Little Stinker". The prototype S-2, which

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528-416: The size of the figures and the length of time the pilot has to withstand increased g-forces. Jet aerobatic teams often fly in formations, which further restricts the maneuvers that can be safely flown. Aerobatics done at low levels and for an audience is called "stunt flying". To enhance the show effect of aerobatic manoeuvres, smoke is sometimes generated; the smoke allows viewers to see the path travelled by

552-514: Was recovered at 2,000' AGL. The previous world record for the number of consecutive turns in a flat spin was 81 also set by Spencer Suderman on March 13, 2014 in a Pitts S-2B from 23,000 ft altitude over the Naval Air Facility El Centro . Canada Italy United States Data from National Air and Space Museum; Plane & Pilot Magazine General characteristics Performance Data from Jane's All

576-568: Was the first two-seat Pitts, was "Big Stinker", the prototype Model 11 (later called S-1-11B) was "Super Stinker", and the prototype Model 12 was the "Macho Stinker". In 1962 Curtis Pitts set up Pitts Enterprises to sell plans of the S-1C to homebuilders. Certified versions of the Pitts are now produced by Aviat Aircraft in Afton, Wyoming . It is available as the S-1 single-seater with an up to 200 hp (150 kW) flat-4 Lycoming engine and

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