Category:Pitts Sky Car

Pitts Sky Car seen in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes.

The Pitts Sky Car was an unsuccessful aircraft designed for vertical take off, by inventor John W Pitts of Detroit, Michigan (no link with Curtis Pitts, foundator of Pitts Enterprise). Pitts filed a US Patent in 1924 for a propellor "which will cause an immediate vertical lift of any aerial car to which the propellor is attached". This consisted of a "mushroom shaped" rotor of 60 blades, each hinged at the axis. A motor would rotate and reciprocate the propellor, causing the blades to close on the down stroke and open on the upstroke, which it was hoped would induce lift. The patent was granted in October 1926. In collaboration with W P Kindree, Pitts constructed a prototype with a 90 horse power Curtiss engine. A newsreel of 1928 shows the Sky Car attempting to fly; however rather than take off, it merely jumps up and down.

This page lists all films that feature the Pitts Sky Car.

See also

• Pitts Sky Car on Wikipedia.