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Ready to park in an eight-foot-wide space is Stits Playmate with its wings folded.

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By BOB BO'DEl\

Mid-day heat begins to boil - In· land Southern California style - as the mercury in the thermometer goes on climbout. Sunshine reflects from the gleaming yellow paint of NSK as you slide open the cockpit canopy.

The low-wing, tri-geared, strut· braced monoplane contrasts sharply against the stark white of a hangaI door at Rubidoux-Flabob Airport just west of the Santa Ana River frorr Riverside.

This is the horne of Ray Stits Playmate , a stubby , three-place air· plane designed to fold in 30 second! and go horne to park in the garage side-by-side with the family car.

"I guess you know how to start it huh, Bob," said Stits, tugging at the visor of his EXperimental Aircraft As· sociation cap as he walked toward the right side of the airplane.

There's the Playmate's left seat waiting, ready to be snuggled into. It'! time to renew acquaintance with thf airplane that began when she was ~ nondescript association of metal tub ing and wooden wing formers, in 196{ and 1967.

And the last time we went test-fly ing in NSK she had only a 12S-hI Lycoming engine and no upholstery Now the SA-II A has a 150-hp Lycom ing. The seats are more cuddly witl black vinyl and yellow trim. The exter ior color scheme is yellow and bJacJ trim.

You step up onto the black left sid, walkway at the wing root where i folds. Swing over the side, into th cockpit, shOving your right leg aroun!

your half of the "U" shaped dual control stick assembly.

Settle back in the seat, squirming just a bit to find the right way to get into the shoulder harness. Ray eases into the right seat and holds the harness on that side for your arm to slip through.

"I guess we changed the belts since you flew it last," says Ray as he buckles in and you firm up the harness on your side.

There's the brake handle tucked between the seats beside your right hand. A pull control on the panel, left of center, sets the brakes.

The master switch with its red safety cover is at the upper left, just below the turn-to-start magneto switch . Flip the master switch on, check the push-pull mixture control for rich. Carburetor heat control is pushed in for cold.

Give the throttle a couple of pumps, turn the switch to "start" and the engine goes into action promptly, smoothly.

The airplane refuses to shake and rattle as the engine starts, proving that everything about the Playmate is pret­ty solid and the po ly-fiber covering eliminates the skin vibration noise

associated with light, all-metal air­planes.

"We can get out around that end hangar ," says Stits, pointing to a gras­sypathway skirting the tails of a couple of non-flyable airplanes .

Less than 1000 rpm eases the Play­mate along the path, around the end of the hangar, across some more

bumpy grass and onto the bumpy taxiway.

This air~ort isn't first class - far from it - but it's a hotbed of home­builders, antiquers and seat-of-their­pants fliers who are super first-class aviation boosters.

This is where it's at - sort of a melting pot of aviation where flying is

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rust-love and eating regularly takes second place in life.

Swing the down-swept cowling of the SA-II A into the wind. Run the engine up to IS00 rpm. Pull the carburetor heat on. Power drops to prove hot air is being sucked into the venturi. Check the mags. Right has 7S rpm drop and the left is almost identi­cal - smooth.

Trim control is a "slide rule" type mounted on the panel just above the

it and came in for a touch-and-go ahead of the little two-place trainer.

This time there is no playmate to show off for so we cut out of the traffic pattern, turning northeast for open country along the Santa Ana River.

Climb at 90 mph keeps the altim­eter winding at a steady pace, record­ing close to 900 fpm.

"Look out on the right side," says Stits over the roar of air and the

Features of the Stits Playmate cockpit are the "u" shaped control stick unit, brake handle in lower center under edge of seat, slide type trim conn'ol just to right and above radio. Panel contains no gyro instrnments.

throttle. Takeoff position is marked with an "N" for neutral.

Check for traffic and begin rolling. Ease the throttle all the way in. Feel the thrust of ISO hp. Acceleration is faster than you remember from the 12S-hp version in November of 1967.

Despite the heat the airspeed needle flicks past 60 mph in less than 400 feet. Ease back on the stick and NSK is climbing, better than 1,000 fpm at about 80 mph .

Back in 1967 we followed a Cessna 140 on takeoff, outcIimbed it, passed

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Lycoming 0-320 engine. "That's got 8S hp but it's really light."

Scooting along a couple of hundred feet from the Playmate is a bright yellow Whittman Tailwind with slim, boxy lines, pointed nose and fragile­appearing landing gear.

NSK levels off easily, requiring a minimum of fussing with the trim control. The nose drops into place just below the almost-<>bscured horizon. Airspeed increases to about lOS mph indicated - about 118 mph true. At 8,SOO feet, optimum cruise is 138 mph.

Oops, there's the Tailwind again frisky, banking into a turn, acting lik it wants to play. Ught pressure on th controls sends the Playmate into steep turn away from the Tailwind. I whips around to follow.

The Playmate responds quickly t commands for a right turn and then. left puts the Playmate on the Tail wind's tail as it makes a dash fo home, calling the game quits.

Easing the Playmate's nose up an coming off on the power, the sta warning horn goes on at about 68 mpl and it stalls just on the fast side of 6 mph.

Holding the stick all the way back the airplane doesn't want to break . I falls off some on the right win~ recovers by itself, falls off again an recovers while mushing, losing aW tude.

Let the airplane go hands off and i will do its own stall recovery, droppin a couple of hundred feet, pulling up t regain the lost altitude.

The Playmate . is an airplane tha feels like an airplane should. Th control stick makes you feel as if yOI are a part of the airplane.

The noise level lets you know tha you are flying, but it isn't any highe than many production airplanes an substantially less than a Maule Strata Rocket.

Climbout and takeoff distances ar superior with the I 50-hp engine in stead of 12S hp, but cruising speed i only up about 10 mph with the large engine.

Stits believes that 150 horsepower i the upper limi t for the airplane whe] balancing performance against econ omy. He sees 12S hp sufficient for th type of airplane the Playmate wa designed to be - a money saving spor plane for weekend fun flying .

Turning toward the airport NS} chews up the distance quickly, losin altitude, dropping like a falcon int the traffic pattern, aiming for the tOI of Mt. Rubidoux at 1,400 feet.

Stits likes to fly the Playmate at 8 mph in the pattern, setting up a rate 0

descent with power on fInal, comin: over the fence at about 75 mph.

A fairly flat aPProach in the flaples airplane makes for a better landin with a minimum of flareout befor touchdown at 60 mph. Stall speed i 59 mph.

The Playmate feels as if it is landin hot, but just a slight amount of nose high attitude allows the airplane tl shed speed quickly.

Beginner's luck rides along on th first lanqing, drawing a "good one comment from Ray Stits. Second tim around is a try for a steeper angle a descent, ending in a slightly high flare out and proof that a Playmate doesn'

float. The hot day lets the wheels down quite solidly. The gear flexes and the airplane refuses to bounce.

A third landing proves that with minimum practice the average private pilot should be able to land easily in less than 1,000 feet and an expert could do it in less than 500 feet.

Back at the hangar the wings folEl quickly. Open a door on each side behind the cowling. Pull a handle on each side. That's it. The wings are ready to fold. Grab a ring underneath near the tip. Lift and push. It's almost as quick and easy as the old slo­gan: "Push, pull - click, click change blades that quick."

A snap-on locking device hooks the wingtip to the vertical stabilizer on each side and it is ready to park in a garage.

The system is de~gned so the aile­rons, operated by push rods, connect automatically in such a way that no mistake or failure to connect is possi­ble when the wing is dropped into place. If the doors covering the wing release handle are closed, the wing definitely is locked.

Although the folding wing system developed for the Playmate is similar, it differs considerably from a canti­lever wing-folding system newly pa­tented by Stits.

More Stits-designed homebuilt air­planes now are flying in the U.S. than any other homebuilt design - about 500. As of mid-July, he had issued 170 serial numbers for Playmate SA-II A's. No . I is the prototype and four projects have cancelled, leaving 165 active builders.

Ray Stits, 40ish, solid family man, community leader for improved avia­tion facilities, is virtually a legend in his own time.

A reformed aerial circus daredevil who risked his life for a few postwar dollars now rates as the nation's most prolific homebuilt airplane designer.

Shortly after World War II he de­signed the Stits-Bessler SA4 Playmate that also was a folding-wing aircraft. Since then he has sent the world's smallest flyable biplane to the Smith­sonian Museum and created the Play­boy that long has been a favorite of homebuilders, plus his type-cettifi­cated Skycoupe and a half-dozen others.

Stits is one of the Experimental Aircraft Association founders. Chapter I of the association is at Rubidoux­Flabob Airport with William Six as president.

Since Stits' activity in forming Chapter I, the EAA has grown to 333 chapters. Nineteen of the chapters are in Canada and one each in England, Japan, Sweden, South Africa and West Germany.

A simple three-point clamp secures the SA-llA Playma te 's low wing to vertical fin for transit. The ring at right locks the aileron. Center point holds the wingtip and catch at left clips to the fin.

Just below the release handle of Stits SA-llA is a fairing where wing root mates to fuselage. Pushing the handle forward secures the wing root with a high-. shear pin.

Key to operating the SA -11 A's folding-wing system is a handle all each side of the fuselage just aft of the cowling. Open the door, pull the handle and the wing is ready to fold. When cover positively is locked.

But the Stits power in the home­built industry is about to end ­temporarily. At the end of December, 1969, Ray Stits retires from the field. No longer will he sell plans for his homebuilt designs.

And so the SA-J 1 A may be the last of the Stits line, an airplane that is the exclamation point to a phase of a career that pioneered in the art of home building.

However, when the smog of indeci­sion clears and the piles of paperwork diminish, Stits may be at it again . What was that he said - something about a flying wing as the most practi­cal light plane of the future?

is closed, the wing

In the air conditioned office of Stits Aircraft Supplies , Ray admits that getting out of the homebuilt aircraft plane business is mostly a matter of economics.

Plans for the SA-llA sell for $125. The package of construction prints weighs 16 pounds. With the prints goes a 34-page manual, an index of draw­ings, parts list and a promise to help anyone who needs it.

Increase of homebuilding also means that more persons write letters about how to solve construction prob­lems . Stits answers every letter with detailed information. He estimates his minimum cost is 55 per letter.

So the game of homebuilding planes is bustling, becoming n sophisticated, but not without piti Another reason Stits gives for quit homebuilt design is his claim many persons aren't playing fair.

Among designers who are tryin advance the art and boost aviation opportunists with glowing stories, ing cheap plans that are virtu worthless.

While Stits sits back to regroup thoughts about aviation and hOI building, he will be maintainin: supply of Playmate components five years, answering letters, sel supplies and his FAA-approved pc dope covering process.

Three SA-II A Playmates have b completed by homebuilders. The fl unofficial flight of a Playmate ot! than the prototype was Serial No.

Henry C. Balcer, Jefferson C Missouri, made the flight Septem 29, 1968. The first official flight \ October 13, 1968 by Jess Berk Laramie, Wyoming. The third PI mate flier is Frank W. McEntee, Al erson, Indiana.

After meeting Ray Stits at the 19 Rock:ord fly-in, Balcer writes:

"Ray was a little doubtful tha1 beginner such as me could build folding-wing design. I believe he f that I would not produce a Playm of which he could be proud.

"When I called him the day af the test flight, I think he had chan~ his mind on that score. I am so plea~ with my airplane that sometimes I f I will just burst with pride."

Balcer is a native of Poland w immigrated to the United States 1949 with S50, speaking only a f words of English.

Balcer built his Playmate in abc 2~ years. Stits estimates the aver< homebuilder should be able to co plete the job in 14 months to t, years. Cost will vary from $2,500 about $4,000, depending on what ki of an engine bargain the individl builder happens to find.

Attempting to be honest about f ing and homebuilding, Stits says if brochure:

"The prospective builder should finanCially able to support a hobby this magnitude without affecting t family budget.

"A person with a history of dT( ping various projects after a D months interest would very likely dr an aircraft project before it is co pleted."

For the relatively few and devo homebuilding is a rewarding exp ience as it was for Balcer.

But without help from the design Balcer might have failed. Here's wI

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he has to say : "Ray Stits patiently answered my

many letters. I know that he must have thrown his hands up in despera­tion at times . He will never know how much his willingness to answer every letter and help in getting parts and such were appreciated."

That's three up and 163 to go for the current crop of Playmate plans in the hands of builders. How many will make it is anybody's guess.

Now the sit uation is sort of like "last call for dinner" or "all ashore who's going ashore."

Several hundred persons in he United States and foreign countries have discovered sport flying in the Stits tradition from Flut-R-Bugs to Playmates. And the future might hold a Stits flying wing; however, December is at least temporarily the end of the line.

Now the chips are down. lJo~s anyone want a Playmate before it's too late?

FLIGHT REPORT Prototype ' Stits SA-II A Folding­

Wing Playmate. Plans, $125, Stits Air­craft, Box 3084, Riverside, California. Construction cost, $2,500 to $4,000. Project time, 14 months to two years. Licensed as "amateur built" aircraft.

Gross weight, 1,500 lbs. Empty weight, 886 lbs. Useful load, 614 Ibs . Wing span, 27 ft., 5* in. Length, 18 ft., 4~ in. Wing chord, 54 in. Wing area, 120 sq. ft. Height, 6 ft., 9 in . Height folded, 6 ft., 11 in. Maximum width folded, 8 ft. Cabin width, 39 in. Fuel capacity, 24 gals. Engine, Lycom­ing 0-320, 150 hp. Propeller, Sense­nich M74DM58. Wheel size, 5:00 x 5, 4-ply.

Designed for Lycoming engines from 100 to 150 hp. Loading sched­ule: Two 170-lb. persons, full fuel (144 Ibs.) and 130 Ibs. baggage. Alter­nate: 3 persons and partial fuel de­pending on actual weight of all passen­gers. Maximum weight in aft area, 170 Ibs.

Performance with 150-hp engine at gross weight and sea leve) condi­tions: Top speed, 132 mph (TAS); Cruise speed (75 percent), 120 mph (TAS); Optimum cru'ise (75 percent at 8,500 ft.), 138 mph (TAS);Maximum (red line) speed, 140 mph (Ind.); Service ceiling, over 17,500 ft.; StaJl speed, 59 mph (TAS); Rate of climb, 1,625 fpm; Maximum range, 50 per­cent at 12,000 ft., 425 mph.; Takeoff run (no wind), 310 ft.; Landing roll (no Wind), 340 ft.

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Rocker mechanism on wing root (left) and fuselage (right) mate when wing is locked down, forming positive aileron linkage~

Nose gear fork and piston assembly is Stits-designed for the Playmate. Unit is cadmium plated and uses rubber shock donuts.