National Air and Space Museum Archives

Stits Aircraft Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2019.0024
Creators:
Stits, Ray
Dates:
1945s-1960s
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
20.6 Cubic feet
4 boxes, 6 map case drawers, and 23 map folders
Repository:
This collection consists of 20.6 cubic feet of photographs (construction, static, and inflight), engineering and flight test reports, and engineering drawings for Stits aircraft.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of 20.6 cubic feet of photographs of various Stits aircraft; engineering reports, flight test data, and correpsondence related to the Type Certification of the SA-9A Sky-Coupe and the planned Certification of the SA-12-160 Air-Mate; and engineering drawings for the Stits SA-3A and SA-3B Playboy, SA-6B Flut-R-Bug, SA-7D Sky-Coupe, SA-9A Sky-Coupe, SA-10A Sky-Streak; SA-11A Playmate, SA-12-160 Air-Mate (planned), and SA-14A (planned).

Arrangement

Arrangement
The material is organized into two series: Photographs and Documents, arranged by report number and date; and Engineering Drawings, arranged by size and drawing number.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Ray Stits (1921-2015) was a leader in the homebuilt aircraft movement. In 1948 Stits designed and built the SA-1A (monoplane) and SA-2A Skybaby (biplane) on a dare from another pilot to prove that he could build the world's smallest human-carrying airplane. Stits donated the SA-2A to the National Air and Space Museum in 1972 and this aircraft is currently on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Beginning the 1950s Stits designed a series of small monplanes as homebuilt aircraft, selling the plans and construction materials as Stits Aircraft Corp. Stits was the creator of the Stits Process, known today as the Poly-Fiber aircraft coating process, and a was founding member of Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter One at historic Flabob Airport, Jurupa Valley, CA.

Administration

Author
Paul Silbermann
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donald R. and Loretta D. Stits, Gift, 2019, NASM.2019.0024
Processing Information
Intitial description by Patti Williams, 2019. Processed and revised by Paul Silbermann, 2021.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Preferred Citation
Stits Aircraft Collection, NASM.2019.0024, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Aeronautics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Engineering drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Technical reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-3A Playboy Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-3B Playboy Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-6B Flut-R-Bug Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-7D Skycoupe Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-9A Skycoupe Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-10A Sky-Streak Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-11A Playmate Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-12-160 Air-Mate Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits SA-14A Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stits Aircraft Corp Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu