After many months of airplane-hunting, it looks like I'm finally in the home stretch. I expect that on Sunday, 10/13, I'll be the new owner of a Pitts S-1S, N37XP. There are a few pictures here.

This is a factory kit, but is certified as an Experimental Homebuilt. To me this represents the best of both worlds; the assurance that the airplane is built to a proven factory design, and the flexibility to equip and modify the airplane to suit me.

According to the current owner (and a previous owner as well), the kit was assembled by Curtis Pitts and a small crew of his in his "shop-on-the-side" in Homestead, FL. It was sold to the Peru Air Force, who were trying to get a Pitts display team started. After one of its sister airplanes was totalled in an accident, the Peruvians abandoned the whole idea, and the remaining models were sold back to various buyers in the US. The airplane was refurbished, overhauled, and converted to spring-steel gear by Ray Williams.

I've got everything described, photographed, inspected, approved, negotiated, repaired, etc. I just need to go look at it with my own eyes, then sign the papers and hand over the check!

The airplane is based near Austin, Texas. It took a bit of hunting around, but I finally found a very skilled (and very picky!) Pitts mechanic and builder to do the pre-purchase inspection. Except for a couple of issues that have been since repaired, the inspection came out OK, and the report provided an opportunity to negotiate down a little from the asking price.

I don't envy the ferry pilot his task. On the 19th-20th, he will fly this day-VFR airplane 1300 nm from Austin, TX, to Belmar, NJ. The fuel tanks are small enough that he'll be stopping every 90 minutes or so for fuel!

This is gonna be cool!

Tom P.

• RE: Finally, I'm Ready to Buy an Airplane!,Emile, 06:04z, 10-05-02
• RE: Finally, I'm Ready to Buy an Airplane!,aboyd, 02:59z, 10-08-02
• RE: Finally, I'm Ready to Buy an Airplane!,TomParsons, 19:02z, 10-09-02
• RE: Finally, I'm Ready to Buy an Airplane!,CRodin, 14:04z, 10-11-02
• RE: Finally, I'm Ready to Buy an Airplane!- Update,TomParsons, 15:12z, 11-11-02

Hi Tom,
Nice machine, seams to be cool!!
A max of pleasure
Regards
Emile
EBBR

Congratulations!! It looks like a honey. I am sure you will have an ear-to-ear grin the first time you put the stick over in YOUR Pitts!

Suggestions:

1) Goodyear Flight Custom III last longer, but the first thing any new Pitts owner should do is burn out 3 sets of tires practicing landings. Be cautious of crosswinds at first - and avoid quartering tailwinds like the plague - but after a while, you will effortlessly take off and land in crosswinds that other pilots consider insurmountable.

2) 3M bookbinding tape to gap seal the ailerons, with 1/3 of the aft width folded over.

3) the best pilot is usually the one who puts the most 100LL through his engine

--
aboyd@igs.net http://www.webhost-canada.com/~boyd/team.htm

Thanks Emile! And thank you Andrew, for several nuggets of good advice!

> The first thing any new Pitts owner should do is burn
> out 3 sets of tires practicing landings.
I have received similar advice from others as well. Before I even fly the thing, I will be going back to Budd Davisson's for a tune-up and brief spin intro. Then I plan on doing lots of non-acro flying in the pattern (probably will hop around a bit among local airports, in order to spread the annoyance around!). I also plan on sticking to non-acro until I can get to do Bill Finagin's spin training. Once I have that under my belt, and am good enough with landings to stop worrying, I will start working on the 2003 Sportsman sequence!

> 3M bookbinding tape to gap seal the ailerons, with 1/3
> of the aft width folded over.
I remember a thread on this topic on the acro exploder a while back as well. This airplane was gap-sealed just like that at one point, but the owner removed it a while ago (I think it was getting ugly-looking). The rudder and elevator still have the more traditional rubber gap seals.

> The best pilot is usually the one who puts the most
> 100LL through his engine.
I have heard this as well, and what I saw at the Kathy Jaffe contest last month seemed to bear that out. If that's true, then I hope to burn lots of dinosaurs!

Tom P.

Congratulations Tom !!!
Maybe we'll meet next summer at a contest, although I suspect me and my Skybolt may not be much of a match for you and your Pitts !!
Your transition training plan sounds extremely well thought-out and sensible.... HAVE FUN !!
Cary Rodin
Victoria, B.C.

Thanks to everybody for the nice words and good advice. Since last time, I have had good news and bad news.

The good news is that, although it was delayed by several weeks, the Pitts has finally made it to my hangar. The ferry pilot took advantage of some nice tailwinds to make the journey from Cedar Park, TX to Belmar, NJ in two days. The airplane landed at its new home field just as the daylight ran out last Saturday (11/9). It looks great, and is none the worse for wear, except for a few new bug guts on the leading edges!

The bad news is that I have to wait about three more weeks to fly the thing. I went out to Budd's two weekends ago for my tune-up, but his airplane did not make it home from its rebuild until too many days had elapsed for me to stick around. Apparently, his airplane spent 3 or 4 days weathered in somewhere in OK/TX/NM. So I didn't get tuned up before my Pitts arrived (although at least I got to visit the Davisson's, and catch more dietary abuse from Marlene!). I will spend the next three weeks polishing, taxiing, and perhaps letting an experienced friend fly the airplane to work the engine a bit.

Tom P.