Aircraft model
AEROTEK PITTS S-2A
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Pitts S-2A is the two-seat version of Curtis Pitts's competition biplane, built by Aerotek in Wyoming and certified in 1971. It is tiny — twenty feet of wingspan — with 200 hp, tandem open-ish cockpits under a canopy, and a roll rate that made it the dominant competition aerobatic aircraft of the 1970s.
It is bought for aerobatic training and sport flying and it is genuinely demanding. Forward visibility on the ground and in the landing attitude is close to nil, the gear is narrow, and it has a serious ground-loop reputation — Pitts pilots learn to wheel-land or to three-point it precisely, and there is no third option. Aerobatic use accumulates airframe fatigue quickly, so logbooks and any record of over-g matter. At exactly 200 hp no high-performance endorsement applies.
Compare with…
Put AEROTEK PITTS S-2A side by side with up to two other models.
- AEROTEK PITTS S-2A
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming AEIO-360-A1E |
| Horsepower | 200 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1971 |
| Production end | 1981 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 130 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 260 nm |
| Service ceiling | 22,300 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,600 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 55 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 475 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 331 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,625 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,150 lb |
| Usable fuel | 24 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 11.2 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $70,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $115,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,400 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $36,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $52,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 188 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 78 |
| Median year built | 1975.5 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 51.28 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 51.28 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 14 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 17.95 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 78 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 78 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 78 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.6 of 103 |
| Support | 5.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.8 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.