Description

The JADE Pitts S2-B is a sport-scale .46-size 1/5.5-scale R/C aircraft.  During its design stage, many measurements (as well as the color scheme for the prototype - pictures on this page and in the Gallery) were taken directly from Harv’s Air’s full-scale C-FDRY, though some deviations were made from true scale in order to make the model a little less complex to build and set up.  However, from a few feet away it looks very similar to the real thing.  The model Pitts’s flight performance is also quite realistic, making it easy to perform a scale- looking aerobatic routine.  Plus, if it has been built carefully according to the plans (i.e. no extra reinforcements or big blocks of wood added in for “extra strength”) an O.S. .46FX with an 11X7 prop should provide enough thrust to enable this Pitts to hover on a cool day.  Even though hovering isn’t quite a scale maneuver for a stock Pitts S2-B, it is always nice to have some extra power for an overshoot, to get to maneuvering altitude quickly, or just to be able to do really impressive vertical climbs after take-off.   And even though the Pitts is a biplane, it’s relatively easy to build and set up.  All the screws attaching the wings to the cabane and interplane struts are hidden in the structure, avoiding the messy-looking appearance of many other model biplanes.  The four ailerons are driven by two micro servos - one in each bottom wing panel, with interconnect rods linking the bottom aileron to the top aileron on each side of the airplane.  Overall construction is conventional balsa and ply.  The canopy, cowl, and wheel pants must be made out of vacuum-formed plastic or fiberglass.  Main gear is 0.090” aluminum. To date, at least one JADE Pitts S-2B has also been built and flown with electric power (see two photos of “C-HOFR” below).  The builder of this aircraft used an E-Flite Power 32 brushless outrunner and 4S 4200 mAh lipo battery, driving a 13"X6.5" prop.  He also found that the canopy from Great Planes’ Extra 330 fits pretty well on this Pitts (the wheel pants from the Extra 330 may also work here).  Pitts S-2B

Pitts S-2B