EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019: Airshows - Highly Modified Pitts Special

The Aero Experience continues our coverage of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019 airshows, sponsored by Elite Aviation, with a look at two performers flying highly modified Pitts Specials - Sean Tucker and Skip Stewart. Admittedly these aircraft are in a class by themselves - so far advanced as to bear only superficial resemblance to the Pitts line of aerobatic biplanes. They are, though, the ultimate evolution of this classic design.

Sean Tucker flew his Oracle Challenger 3 in the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019 airshows for the final season before its retirement to the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum. This custom design is powered by a 400+ horsepower Lycoming engine and is stressed to +9-7 G-forces. The Challenger 3 is contrasted to the Extra 300L (similar to those featured in our previous post) flown by Jessy Panzer, his teammate on the airshow circuit in 2019. The photos below represent a composite of several airshows flow during week of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019.

Skip Stewart flies his highly recognizable, hot-rod aerobatic biplane in airshows around the world. Originally built as a Pitts S-1S, it has been repeatedly modified so as to be known simply by its name, Prometheus. Here we feature his solo performances at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019, and you may see him fly in combination with other airshow performers in the TinStix of Dynamite Act.