dylanxpeters
Registered Users
Hello all. I have made a few posts previously regarding my pitts but i would like to take the time to officially begin documenting the bringing-to-life of my once airworthy Pitts Special S-1C. I am a very eager 22 year old pilot and mechanic. I work for Mike Goulian and his brother Matt here in New England. I also work as an AOG corporate jet mechanic all over New England.
I owned a 1972 Grumman Yankee that I made a slight restoration to and flew for almost 200 hours in one year. I flew out to Lagrangeville NY and put a deposit on my pitts. I flew home and that night made a barnstormers ad for my beloved grumman and got to trying to sell it.
Fast forward one month and a good friend of mine was flying me out to Lagrangeville to rent a uhaul and load up my pitts.
The airplane came home and i took her apart. I assesed everything and made a few lists of the different things i needed to do. My project came with a Rotec TBI and i quickly began setting that up. I had a spacer built to use the same cowling inlet and began mocking up controls. In the photo you'll also see freshly built aeroquip hose assemblies (I will be adding firesleeve)
From there i began building a new instrument panel. The materials and basic dimensions were from the plans, but i wanted to incorporate a switch and circuit breaker panel into the instrument panel. The switch panel that was installed when i bought it was cheap and put together with automotive wiring and i thought that it looked cheap. I replaced the oil temp, oil pressure, and ammeter with new gauges from Mitchell. Some photos are attached.
I live right under the Boston class B airspace and knew that mode C was essential. I also wanted a get-in-and-turn-the-switch airplane so the electrical was staying. I installed a becker digital comm radio and transponder. I built a little box and support. Super simple and effective. My knee fits under the radios nice even with a chute and moving the stick in all directions.
Some other things that I have done include rebuilding the Christen oil valve and cleaning the breather. My airplane came with a canopy but no windscreen, so i installed a used windscreen and the canopy. I replaced the old badly made battery & box with an Oddesy PC680 and built a mount for it behind the seat. The old heavy started was replaced with a lightweight skytec. The automotive belt driven alternator and ford regulator will be replaced with a B&C vaccum pad driven alternator/regulator. The engine driven 15psi fuel pump ( for ps5c ) replaced with a low pressure type, and an electrical fuel pump will be replacing the old wobble pump.
I have the rudder pedals removed and a good local friend that some of you my know, Dennis Sawer (skybolt/s1s/hyerbipe builder, ex Red Bull Air Race crew chief for Mike Goulian) is converting the pedals to accept toe brake cylinders. I want all the control i can get landing this short fuse little bipe!
I look forward to completing and flying this great flying machine. I am in contact with the original builder and flyer of this pitts and he can't wait to see her fly again.
I owned a 1972 Grumman Yankee that I made a slight restoration to and flew for almost 200 hours in one year. I flew out to Lagrangeville NY and put a deposit on my pitts. I flew home and that night made a barnstormers ad for my beloved grumman and got to trying to sell it.
Fast forward one month and a good friend of mine was flying me out to Lagrangeville to rent a uhaul and load up my pitts.
The airplane came home and i took her apart. I assesed everything and made a few lists of the different things i needed to do. My project came with a Rotec TBI and i quickly began setting that up. I had a spacer built to use the same cowling inlet and began mocking up controls. In the photo you'll also see freshly built aeroquip hose assemblies (I will be adding firesleeve)
From there i began building a new instrument panel. The materials and basic dimensions were from the plans, but i wanted to incorporate a switch and circuit breaker panel into the instrument panel. The switch panel that was installed when i bought it was cheap and put together with automotive wiring and i thought that it looked cheap. I replaced the oil temp, oil pressure, and ammeter with new gauges from Mitchell. Some photos are attached.
I live right under the Boston class B airspace and knew that mode C was essential. I also wanted a get-in-and-turn-the-switch airplane so the electrical was staying. I installed a becker digital comm radio and transponder. I built a little box and support. Super simple and effective. My knee fits under the radios nice even with a chute and moving the stick in all directions.
Some other things that I have done include rebuilding the Christen oil valve and cleaning the breather. My airplane came with a canopy but no windscreen, so i installed a used windscreen and the canopy. I replaced the old badly made battery & box with an Oddesy PC680 and built a mount for it behind the seat. The old heavy started was replaced with a lightweight skytec. The automotive belt driven alternator and ford regulator will be replaced with a B&C vaccum pad driven alternator/regulator. The engine driven 15psi fuel pump ( for ps5c ) replaced with a low pressure type, and an electrical fuel pump will be replacing the old wobble pump.
I have the rudder pedals removed and a good local friend that some of you my know, Dennis Sawer (skybolt/s1s/hyerbipe builder, ex Red Bull Air Race crew chief for Mike Goulian) is converting the pedals to accept toe brake cylinders. I want all the control i can get landing this short fuse little bipe!
I look forward to completing and flying this great flying machine. I am in contact with the original builder and flyer of this pitts and he can't wait to see her fly again.
Last edited:
