PacificNWSkyPilot

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Hi Guys. I'm starting a new thread because there are no substantial threads about this RC Guys 33% Pitts S1 ARF to date (that I can find). I've always been a bipe-crazed individual, but when you start talking about a Pitts, I can barely keep it together. I get weak in the knees, and the drooling problem forces my wife to put me out with the dog.

This whole journey started when I bought a 40CC Twin gasser from Valley View. I intended to use it to power my RC Guys Decathlon, which is also a pretty sweet bird.

While the V V 40CC Twin gas engine was en route to me, I decided to go play in the RC Guys website. That was when their newest versions of the 33% Pitts caught my eye. Their videos and the YouTube videos out there drew me in further, and before long, I was hooked, and mindlessly whipping out my cell phone with one hand, and my plastic with the other. Yesterday I arrived home to find a rather large box on my porch, containing the yellow version of the 33% Pitts S1.

RC Guys usually does a pretty nice job on their birds, but this yellow Pitts is the single nicest ARF I've ever seen, period.

Double-boxed and super-well protected, it was flawless. The covering didn't have so much as a wrinkle on any of the surfaces or fuselage. Not even one. The cowl is a thing of beauty. You can't imagine the size of this cowl! The paint was perfect in every detail. Wheel pants were just the same, and beautifully wrapped in foam sheets.

I pulled the V V 40CC Twin out of its box, and held it inside of the cowl. Yes, INSIDE of the cowl, with probably an inch and a half to spare on each side. This engine and the RC Guys Pitts is a slam-dunk match-up. Since the power range for the Pitts is 25CC to 40CC if you're using a gas engine, it's just perfect. There's so much room to work with!

Now, I typically do build threads on my new planes, and I will try to keep you up on this build as I progress, but I can't promise you the same level of coverage as I used to provide. With my books now selling, and me having to go on the road and do signings (weird, eh?), my free time is more limited than it used to be. I promise to do my best. This time, I went to Valley View for my engine, and it came without a hitch, so we are ready to roll. Also, I'm insanely pumped about building another Pitts of this size. Over thirty years ago, I built a Pilot Pitts from a kit, nearly identical in size (68-1/2" top wing). It was a nice kit, but it built up pretty heavy (or perhaps I built it too heavy. I can't discount that as a possibility). With the advances in modern ARF frameworks today, combined with super-light, ultra-powerful gas engines, this should be a completely different animal in the air.

It's estimated to have an AUW (all-up-weight) of 12 to 14 pounds. I'm going to estimate the completed bird at 14.5 to 15 pounds, due to my typical building techniques. At 1572 Square inches of wing area, this bird should carry that weight effortlessly. My Giant Super Sportster is just under 15 pounds, and at just under 1300 Square inches of wing area, it'll float right past the field, especially when I'm using the flaperons. I noticed when inspecting the wings that the Pitts has flat-bottomed airfoils, which further increases the lift. This should be a sweet-flying bipe.

The manual is downloaded and printed from the RC Guys website, and a brief thumbing-through shows it's pretty thorough. I'll comment more about that when I get time to really read it and look at the model, but it looks good so far.

I'll break out the digital camera and tripod, and keep them handy.

Jim