November 7 – 9, 2003
Article by Paul Goetsch
Pitts Fly-In Report
Paul Goetsch, president of Steen Aero Lab, recently attended the Pitts Fly-In held Nov. 7-9, 2003 in Ozark, Alabama. Marshall Collins and crew put on a great party, in honor of the Father of the modern aerobatic biplane. Curtis visited with a lot of friends. (As the local paper said in their article about the Fly-in, he goes to events to see friends because “I’ve seen the airplanes.”) Paul even managed to take along one of the wings from the new Pitts Model 14 to show everyone a bit of the new wing architecture. We saw many friends, some old and some new, and enjoyed every minute. By all accounts, a great time was had by all. We’re already looking forward to next year!
- Event organizer Marshall Collins made sure everyone experienced great hospitality – and one heck of a party!
- Inside the hangar, fly-in attendees partied the night away.
- Paul (right) with a real aviation legend… Hazel Sig-Hester, co-founder of the model airplane company Sig Manufacturing which is known for high-quality kits. She currently owns a rather well-known blue and white Piper Cub as well as an even more well-known red and yellow Spacewalker. (Sorry, didn’t catch the name of the gentleman in the middle.)
- Wonder if it has blue dot nav lights?
- This S-2A sports an interesting variation of the traditional Pitts color scheme.
- Vernon Cox’s “Hawk” is an innovative iteration of the Pitts theme. Sure hope that he can get a little further down in the seat, or he’s going to find things a bit breezy! Note the airbrushing on the wingtips and the air inlet and vents behind the cockpit.
- Keith (right) and Michael Phillips flew in from Spruce Creek, FL. Here they are with their beautiful M14-powered Pitts Model 12.
- This is Pat Ledford’s clean Beech Bonanza V35. Pat flew Curtis out to Ozark from Homestead.
- Nice looking Acroduster. All are welcome here.