Stitts SA-3A Playboy
- Period: Postwar (1945-1959)
- Uses: General Aviation
- First Flight: October 1955
- Display Status: In Reserve Hangar.
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.
Museum Example
- Registration #: C-FRAD
- Manufacturer: Home-built
- Manufacture Date: 1955
- Construction #: 5501
- Aquisition Date: 1978
- Provenance: Purchase
This aircraft was the first homebuilt licenced in Canada after Second World War. After flying in the hands of builder Hopkinson and one other owner, this aircraft was purchased by the Museum in 1978.
Specifications
- 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
