Stitts SA-3A Playboy - Ottawa, Ontario - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The following is from the Canada Aviation and Space Museum's Website:
Highlights:

A U.S., single-seater, low-wing, homebuilt monoplane designed by Ray Stits at Flabob Airport, California in 1952

A kit airplane for amateur aircraft builders; plans were put on sale in 1953

To be considered homebuilt, 51 per cent of an aircraft had to be built by an amateur constructor

Featured a simple and solid design made of steel tubes, wood and fabric

Proved extremely popular with amateur aircraft builders

As many as a thousand were completed by amateur builders since the 1950s; it helped revive the U.S. homebuilt movement after the Second World War

A side-by-side two-seater version (known as SA-3B) was also available

First flight was in October 1955
Artifact no.:
1978.1049
Manufacturer:
Home-built
Manufacturer Location:
Canada
Manufacture Date:
1955
Registration no.:
C-FRAD
Acquisition Date:
1978
History:

During the 1920s and 1930s building aircraft from kits and plans was popular among enthusiasts in the United States. In the 1950s, the Experimental Aircraft Association of Canada was formed to further home aircraft building. The Stitts SA-3A Playboy is a kit airplane. The kit was considerably modified by Keith S. Hopkinson: the nose cowl was from a Piper J-3, the propeller spinner from a Cessna 170, wing struts from a Tiger Moth, landing gear from a Cessna 140, and wheel pants from a Stinson 108.

Hopkinson is credited with persuading the Canadian Department of Transport to facilitate the licensing of homebuilt aircraft. His Playboy was the first homebuilt licensed in Canada after the Second World War.

Current Location:

Reserve Hangar, Canada Aviation and Space Museum

Provenance:

Purchase

This SA-3A Playboy was built over the course of just eleven months by Keith "Hoppy" Hopkinson of Goderich, Ontario in 1955. It was made from a kit designed by Ray Stits at Flabob Airport, California. Hopkinson made major modifications to the kit, using parts from a Piper J-3, a Cessna 170, a de Havilland Tiger Moth, a Cessna 140 and a Stinson 108. He named the aircraft "Little Hokey."

By the 1950s, Canada's Department of Transport had not licensed a homebuilt aircraft in more than a decade. Hopkinson persuaded the department to facilitate licensing of homebuilts, and this Playboy was the first Canadian-built aircraft to be licensed under the Ultralight classification.

In 1977, Don Kernohan of Richmond, Ontario bought the Playboy. It was purchased by the Museum the following year.

Technical Information:

Wing Span 6.7 m (22 ft)
Length 5.3 m (17 ft 4 in)
Height 1.4 m (4 ft 9 in)
Weight, Empty 311 kg (685 lb)
Weight, Gross 435 kg (960 lb)
Cruising Speed 209 km/h (130 mph)
Max Speed 241 km/h (150 mph)
Rate of Climb 305 m (1,000 ft) /min
Service Ceiling 3,660 m (12,000 ft)
Range Unknown
Power Plant one Lycoming 0-235-C1, 100 hp, horizontally-opposed engine

Reference: (visit link)

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Stitts SA-3A Playboy Tail Number: (S/N): C-FRAD Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Canada Aviation and Space Museum inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Canada Aviation and Space Museum - Ottawa, Ontario Opening hours Daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission fees Adult $15, Youth (3-17) $10 Senior (age 60+) / Student $13 - Free on Thursday from 4 to 5 PM An additional 5$ entrance fee to visit the hanger where this aircraft is located will need to be purchased before the visit takes place. You will be escorted by a tour guide. Tours of the hangar are scheduled for 11 AM and 1 PM. There is paid parking on site. Taking photographs is allowed. Access restrictions: You will be briefed by the tour guide at the commencement of your tour and he/she will explain the activities that you may have to restrain from within the hangar. There are barriers on the floor that serve to prevent visitors from approaching too close and touching the aircrafts.

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/22/2023 jiggs11 visited it