The Pitts was built in 1969 by a fellow in the Midwest.  It started life as an S1-C with an open cockpit with no electrics.  The S1-C had a flat bottom airfoil with ailerons on the bottom wing only.  In 1989 the wings were replaced with a kit wing from Sparcrafters.  The wing now has a symmetrical airfoil with ailerons on all four wing panels.  Somewhere along its life it got an electrical system with starter, radio and transponder.  It is powered by an IO320 160hp engine.  It has a full inverted oil and fuel system.

I acquired the Pitts in 2000 about six months before I moved to Grass Valley from So. CA.   I had the Pitts based at John Wayne airport.  John Wayne airport is very interesting.  We had a large group of aerobatic aircraft located there.  Every Monday evening and Friday evening about four of us Pitts would do pattern work.  Sunday five or six of us would fly out somewhere for lunch.

The Pitts is a real kick to fly.  It is very stable in the air.  It will fly hands off just fine.  Now landing is another story.  The visibility is not too good.  When you turn final not only the runway disappears but the whole airport disappears.  The trick is to not do straight in finals.  I come in at a ten degree angle to the runway with a slight slip over the numbers.  Peripheral vision is used to keep things straight when I come out of the slip for the touchdown.

Allan