Steve Wittman's aircraft designs
Steve designed and built a total of 13 aircraft during his life:
1) the "Hardly Ableson", a midwing single-seat monoplane poweredby a Henderson motorcycle engine, and capable of short hops only. Stevebuilt it when he was 19 years of age.
2) the "Chief Oshkosh", Steve's first racing plane, built in 1931,raced 1931-38.
3) "Bonzo", Steve's contender for the prestigous Thompson Trophy,built in 1934, raced 1935-39. It was ultimately capable of over 325 Mph.
4) "Buttercup", a two-seat high wing monoplane, built in 1937.
5) "Big X", a four-seat high wing monoplane.
6) "Buster" (rebuilt from the fuselage of 'Chief Oshkosh') wasSteve's first Goodyear raceplane. Built in 1946, raced 1947-54.
7) "Bonzo", Steve's second Goodyear racer, built in 1948, raced1948-84 in Goodyear, Continental Trophy, 190 cu. in. class, and FormulaOne pylon races as well as the Lowers-Baker-Falck cross-country races.
8) The Tailwind (prototype) W-8C, a two-seat high wing monoplane, builtin 1953. Plans for the Tailwind were sold by Mr. Wittman, and several hundredexamples have been built. The Tailwind blueprints may now be purchased from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty
9) Another Tailwind, W-8L, powered by a Lycoming engine, built in 1954.
10) Yet another Tailwing, W-10, with a tricycle landing gear, built in 1958.
11) The Oldsmobile Tailwind, built in 1974. This Tailwind was unique inthat it was powered by a converted Oldsmobile auto engine.
12) Witt's V. This was a single-seat midwing monoplane powered by a 96 cu.in. converted Volkswagen engine, for Formula V air racing. It was builtin 1970 and raced 1971-1989. Steve sold blueprints for this design and about10 have been built. Aircraft Spruce & Specialty is planning to put the Witt's V blueprints back on the market soon.
13) The O & O Special. This was a two-seat high-wing aircraft whichappeared like an oversize Tailwind. It was specifically designed for fastcross-country travel between Wittman's two homes in Oshkosh and Ocala, Florida(that's where the O & O designation came from). It was in this aircraftthat Steve and Paula were killed in 1995.
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