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Stits received a good deal of interest in his SA-1A and SA-2A designs from pilots interested in building copies of them, but he felt the aircraft were too demanding to fly, with their high wing loadings and fast approach speeds. Instead in 1953, he designed the much more conventional
313:'s racer's 13 ft (4.0 m) span. Other pilots claimed it was not possible, so Stits designed the Junior, with a wingspan of 8.83 ft (2.7 m). That aircraft was damaged in an off-airport landing and later scrapped. He went on to design the
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As the result of a flash-burn accident while burning some scrap aircraft fabric, he designed the Stits
Aircraft Covering System, also called Poly-Fiber, which allowed the aircraft industry to stop using the highly flammable combination of Grade "A"
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320:, with a wingspan of 7.17 ft (2.2 m). The Sky Baby flew 25 hours before being retired to be displayed in a series of museums. It is now in the
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historian, wrote of Stits, "few people outside of the
Poberezny family had as much influence on the early home built aircraft movement as Ray Stits."
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Stits and his wife, Edith, had two sons, David and Don. In the 1970s and 1980s they lived in Jurupa Hills, in the
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aircraft, but it resulted in an aircraft Stits was not pleased with and it was not commercially successful.
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fabric. In 1992, Stits sold the company to Jon
Goldenbaum, but it remains based at Flabob Airport.
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in 1948, about whether it would be possible to design an airplane with a wingspan smaller than
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Master
Mechanic award and a Master Pilot Award each for 50 years of accident-free operations.
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that local chapters would benefit the homebuit aircraft movement and founded
Chapter 1 at
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Stits went on to design a total of 15 aircraft and become a source of both plans and
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478:"Sad News - Prolific aircraft designer, homebuilt aircraft pioneer Ray Stits dies"
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was designed in response to an EAA challenge to create a trailerable aircraft.
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554:"One small step for a man, one giant leap for homebuilding, Part 3"
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In 1953, Stits convinced
Experimental Aircraft Association founder
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at the time and was designed as the result of a discussion at
112:(20 June 1921 - 8 June 2015) was an American inventor,
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211:. He served in the mainland US, with distinction.
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340:which was the first in the highly successful
274:At age 90 Stits was still flying and owned a
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203:Stits served as an aircraft mechanic in the
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297:. The aircraft was the world's smallest
264:and later died in an aircraft accident.
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387:Summary of aircraft designed by Stits:
256:Stits' son, David Stits, served in the
552:Fortier, Rénald (11 September 2017).
293:Stits' first aircraft design was the
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626:from the original on 16 January 2013
596:from the original on 16 January 2013
358:was an attempt to design a larger,
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134:Experimental Aircraft Association
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620:"Covering Material - Poly-Fiber"
566:from the original on 7 July 2021
530:from the original on 6 July 2021
488:from the original on 6 July 2021
170:Canada Aviation and Space Museum
482:fraseraerotechnologycompany.com
269:Federal Aviation Administration
132:system and was the founder of
1:
616:Aircraft Spruce and Specialty
586:Aircraft Spruce and Specialty
205:United States Army Air Forces
179:Stits SA-3B Two-Seat Playboy
518:Laboda, Amy (20 May 2016).
322:Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
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16:American aircraft designer
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267:Stits was awarded both a
251:Jurupa Valley, California
103:David Stits and Don Stits
283:Indian Hills, California
130:aircraft fabric covering
57:Indian Hills, California
281:. He died at age 93 in
749:Stits-Besler Executive
520:"Ray Stits Remembered"
412:SA-3B Two Seat Playboy
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307:Battle Creek, Michigan
258:82nd Airborne Division
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691:Aircraft designed by
382:Stits SA-11A Playmate
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367:Stits SA-11A Playmate
276:Cessna 162 Skycatcher
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188:Stits SA-5 Flut-R-Bug
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657:at Wikimedia Commons
356:Stits SA-7 Sky-Coupe
279:light-sport aircraft
238:and instead move to
234:fabric treated with
224:Rubidoux, California
198:Stits SA-7 Sky-Coupe
166:Stitts SA-3A Playboy
126:Stits SA-2A Sky Baby
334:Richard VanGrunsven
139:David Gustafson, a
785:Aircraft designers
780:Aviation inventors
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295:Stits SA-1A Junior
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124:. He designed the
114:homebuilt aircraft
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653:Media related to
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118:aircraft mechanic
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78:Aircraft mechanic
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484:. 10 June 2015.
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338:VanGrunsven RV-1
289:Aircraft designs
209:Second World War
110:Raymond M. Stits
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349:aircraft parts
342:Van's Aircraft
318:SA-2A Sky Baby
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220:Flabob Airport
216:Paul Poberezny
156:Stits Sky Baby
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41:June 20, 1921
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704:SA-1A Junior
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392:SA-1A Junior
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242:finishes on
240:polyurethane
236:nitrate dope
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51:(2015-06-08)
49:June 8, 2015
18:
775:2015 deaths
770:1921 births
739:SA-8 Skeeto
432:SA-8 Skeeto
262:Vietnam War
207:during the
136:Chapter 1.
95:Edith Stits
64:Citizenship
764:Categories
590:"Ceconite"
443:References
116:designer,
37:1921-06-20
693:Ray Stits
655:Ray Stits
524:Kitplanes
360:high-wing
336:into the
299:monoplane
244:polyester
25:Ray Stits
624:Archived
618:(2021).
594:Archived
588:(2021).
564:Archived
559:Ingenium
528:Archived
486:Archived
373:Aircraft
100:Children
315:biplane
260:in the
168:in the
630:6 July
600:6 July
570:7 July
534:6 July
492:6 July
344:line.
232:cotton
92:Spouse
122:pilot
82:pilot
632:2021
602:2021
572:2021
536:2021
494:2021
365:The
354:His
147:Life
120:and
46:Died
31:Born
305:in
222:in
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35:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
