There's been a lot of discussion lately about various versions of the Pitts Biplane. There have been several Bulldog/Challenger/Prometheus threads that have all been pretty interesting. It's really neat to see how the kit builder made the necessary modifications to an existing kit to accurately model what the full-scale version looks like. I've decided I'll start another thread that has an interesting twist to it.

One of my friends had two builders from Germany build a 40% Prometheus for him. While the majority of the work is done, the airplane still needs the final gearing up before it can fly. It's covered and painted, but it still needs the final installations of the radio gear, canisters, linkages, pull-pull for the rudder, smoke system, fuel system, and so forth. My friend doesn't have the time due to several other projects he's working on, so he asked me to finish the airplane. So, this thread will be more of an assembly thread rather than a build thread.

I'm sure you're all wondering what the twist to this thread is: Look at the pictures at tell me just who you think I'm finishing this airplane for.

WOW !!! thats Beautiful .........

Very cool Jack, How you been?

Plane looks great. Whose kit was the plane built from? Looks to be based of an Exclusiv Modelbau kit. I know 3W is now one of his sponsors. They have a video clip of him on the homepage of the website with him holding the engine for it. Keep it going looks like an awesome plane.

Sloan, I've been doing pretty well. Glad the weather's starting to warm up! I'm looking forward to the Memphis Pro-Bro too. You coming?

Yes, that's a highly modified Exclusiv Modelbau kit. The plane has a 3W 157 up front that's had the cylinders painted black to match the airplane. There will be some pictures of it when I get to the ignition and canisters installed.

MAN... I have wanted to do one of those!

That is beautiful. 157? Go for the 212 4 banger!

Hey Jack,

I thought it looked like one theirs'. What kit did it start out as? Was it the 2.68m Challenger? Keep the info coming, it looks great.

I had a couple Emails with Skip after his show here last fall. He told me this plane was in the works.

Jack, you must get him to get the full scale fly-bys for Memphis Pro Bro. You know I'll be there.

Here is a photo of the show at Pensacola NAS..
And a photo of that plane before you got it...

Skip is the man. He has stepped up big. He is in my book the most exciting aerobatic pilot living. That plane is beautiful.

THERE ARE NO CHECKERS ON THE TAIL OF THE MODEL! OMG... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!



Honestly, that is AWESOME.
The level of Bad Ass is very high.

So does Skip actually fly RC?

buildflycrash, the 1 st photo taken @ nas p-cola , the fireball in the background was from what? looks like large fuel fire can you let me in on whaT'S UP WITH IT?

Originally Posted by john5909

buildflycrash, the 1 st photo taken @ nas p-cola , the fireball in the background was from what? looks like large fuel fire can you let me in on whaT'S UP WITH IT?

It's the pyro during the show... skip basically harrier rolls the damn plane between huge blasts of pyro... looks like all hell is breaking loose.

I agree... unbelievable pilot and show.

Matt, the guys who built it said that the 157 flies it very well. That 4 banger would sound awesome though!

Rick, I'm not entirely sure which version the kit started out as. The manual I have for it is for the S-1 kit, but it would seem to make more sense to modify a Challenger kit. I'll find out and let you know. I met the builders when they came over here, but I forgot to ask them which version it was...

BFC, He probably won't be able to do much at the Pro-Bro. Since it's painfully obvious who the airplane belongs to, he can't risk getting in trouble with the FAA. Now, we did have a full out FAA sanctioned airshow at Propbusters for one of the club fly-ins. That would make it legal! It's just a matter of jumping through all of the paperwork hoops. If he's in town that weekend, he may bring out the model to fly it though.

Sleepy, The checkers will be on there soon! We're still deciding if they're going to be vinyl or painted on. And yes, Skip flies RC. That's how I met him, actually. He'll also tell you that he learned a lot of his building and flying skills from flying RC planes. When he was shrinking the covering on the tail of the full-scale Prometheus, he was using a 21st Century covering iron.

Sleepy, Skip has been flying with Jack and I for several years. Frankly, he's not only a good fixed wing pilot, but a good heli pilot as well.

Jack, I'm stopping by to see that thing soon.

Originally Posted by MattyMatt

It's the pyro during the show... skip basically harrier rolls the damn plane between huge blasts of pyro... looks like all hell is breaking loose.

I agree... unbelievable pilot and show.

Yes, about a 1/4 mile long fire ball that goes off as the planes fly by KE pass. (sort of KE as it was really windy that day)

The wind blowing straight in on the crowd. All the grasshoppers between the pyro and the Grandstands freaked and flew right into us. Hundreds of them all at once. I got hit by 2 or 3. It was fun, the chicks screamed.