Name Curtis Pitts | ||
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Died June 10, 2005, Homestead, Florida, United States | ||
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Curtis Pitts (December 9, 1915 – June 10, 2005) of Stillmore, Georgia, was an American designer of a series of popular aerobatic biplanes, known as the Pitts Special.
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Career
Pitts first designed and built the Pitts Special S-1 aircraft in 1945 which was made specifically for aerobatics.
He also designed the Pitts Samson, built in 1948 for aerobatic pilot Jess Bristow. The Samson was destroyed in a mid-air collision around 1950.
Curtis grew up in Americus, Georgia and his first airplane was a Waco F.
The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC has called the plane Pitts created in 1943 "revolutionary because of its small size, light weight, short wingspan and extreme agility".
Curtis Pitts died of complications from a heart valve replacement at his home in Homestead, Florida on June 10, 2005.