The Pitts Special (company designations S-1 and S-2) is a series of light aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, remain potent competition aircraft in the lower categories. Design and development Curtis Pitts began the design of a single-seat aerobatic biplane in 1943–1944. The design has been refined continuously since the prototype first flew in September 1944; however, the current Pitts S-2 still remains quite close to the original in concept and in design. Several of the aircraft that Curtis Pitts built had a picture of a skunk on them and were called "Stinkers". After she bought it, aerobatic performer Betty Skelton called the second aircraft that Curtis built, "Little Stinker". The prototype S-2, which was the first two-seat Pitts, was "Big Stinker", the prototype Model 11 (later called S-1-11B) was "Super Stinker", and the prototype Model 12 was the "Macho Stinker". In 1962 Curtis Pitts set up Pitts Enterprises to sell plans of the S-1C to homebuilders. Current versions Certified versions of the Pitts are now produced by Aviat Aircraft in Afton, Wyoming. It is available as the S-1 single-seater with an up to 200 hp (150 kW) flat-4 Lycoming engine and a 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m) wingspan, or as the S-2 two-seater variant featuring a 260 hp (194 kW) flat-6 Lycoming and a 20 ft (6.1 m) wingspan. Pitts Specials have been equipped with engines of up to 450 hp (338 kW). Plans for the single-seat Pitts S-1S are also available from Aviat Aircraft. The S-1C and derivative S-1SS plans and kits are supplied by Steen Aero Lab in Palm Bay, Florida. Many hundreds of homebuilders have successfully completed and flown the Pitts since plans became available in 1960. Operational history All single-seat (S-1) and two-seat (S-2) Pitts Specials are variations of the basic design from 1944. The aircraft was popularized by Betty Skelton, Caro Bayley, and other air show performers, which led to the offering of plans in 1962. Pitts produced limited numbers of aircraft during the 1940s and 1950s. The Pitts Special became the standard by which all other aerobatic aircraft were judged. After a number of homebuilt aircraft were produced from rough hand-drawn plans produced by Pitts, more professionally drawn plans went on sale in 1962. While