Pitts plane fly-in attracts enthusiasts despite weather

A man holds his child as he walks past a Pitts Special biplane Saturday morning at Blackwell Field in Ozark. Poor weather kept most of the airplanes on the ground.

By Debbie Ingram
Published: October 18, 2009

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OZARK – Marshall Collins looks to the cloudy skies and gives a swerve-by-swerve commentary of the many maneuvers of fellow Pitts owner and pilot Bill Lacey.

“A half Cuban, a snap on top, a hammerhead, a vertical down with a half snap ... He’s coming in. One, two, three vertical rolls and two torque rolls on the way down,” Collins explains, watching his friend who flew in for the Curtis Pitts Bi-Plane Fly-In at the Blackwell Municipal Airport in Ozark Saturday morning.

Collins, who organized the fly-in, said Lacey has not flown aerobatically in more than 20 years. But today’s observers would never know it as the aircraft reached speeds of about 160 mph.

Despite 50-degree temperatures, a gusty wind and a low cloud ceiling, Lacey, an Athens, Ga. pilot, has no trouble dipping and diving the Southern Alabama skies before landing to an appreciative crowd who braved the season’s first cold snap to see these classic planes.

Among them were Nancy and David Warren of Elba.

“It was something different to do,” says Nancy of why they attended the event, first held in Ozark in 2003. “We enjoy things like this and we figured it would be fun.”

David said he has a pilot friend in Jack who has encouraged their interest in aviation. “He couldn’t come today, so we figured we’d come out for him,” David said.

The Warrens said the weather wasn’t enough of a deterrent to keep them home. After all, they retired here from Michigan about a year ago.

Because of the close proximity to Fort Rucker, the head of U.S. Army Aviation, local fly-ins typically are popular events. This is the fifth Pitts fly-in in Ozark, organized by Collins, who owns seven Pitts planes. He brought four to the event.

“Sports flying is a hobby,” he said, estimating there are about 1,000 to 1,200 Pitts flying the American skies. “Owners are doctors, truckers, mechanics, chemical salesmen, dentists ... some of everybody.”

About 10 planes were on exhibit Saturday, though most remained grounded because of the weather. Other planes were expected for the fly-in but didn’t make the event because of the conditions.

One pilot flew in from Iowa Saturday and by the time he hit Tennessee, there was ice on his mustache. He wore an electric suit for warmth.

The Pitts is a light plane considered among the most aerobatic ever built. They are named for designer Curtis Pitts, who built his first plane in the 1940s. While Pitts died a few years ago, the Pitts Special is still manufactured to look and operate similar to the original. Built for competition flying, the Pitts is now produced as a single- or two-seater by Aviat Aircraft in Afton, Wyoming.