Steve Wittman
| Steve Wittman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Sylvester Joseph Wittman April 5, 1904 Byron, Wisconsin |
| Died |
April 27, 1995 (aged 91) Stevenson, Alabama |
| Cause of death | Plane crash |
| Other names | "Witt" |
| Alma mater | Fond du Lac High School |
| Known for | Air Racing |
| Home town | Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
| Spouse(s) | Dorthy Rady, Paula Muir |
Sylvester Joseph "Steve" Wittman (April 5, 1904 – April 27, 1995) was an air-racer and aircraft designer and builder.
An illness in Wittman's infancy claimed most of his vision in one eye, which convinced him from an early age that his dream of flying was unattainable. However, he learned how to fly in 1924 in a Standard J-1 and built his first aircraft, the Harley-powered "Hardly Abelson" in late 1924. From 1925 to 1927, he had his own flying service, giving joyrides, and during this time also became a demonstration and test pilot for The Pheasant Aircraft Company and Dayton Aircraft Company, flying the Pheasant H-10 in multiple events. He also began his air-racing career, flying his first race in 1926 at a Milwaukee event in his JI.
After competing in his first transcontinental air race from New York to Los Angeles in 1928, he attained a medical waiver on his eyesight and received his pilot's license soon after (signed by Orville Wright). He then went on to design, build and pilot his own aircraft, including Chief Oshkosh in 1931 and Bonzo in 1934. Wittman's first race in an aircraft design that was his was in "Bonzo", in the 1935 Thompson Trophy race, where he placed second.
In 1937, piloting his second homebuilt, "Chief Oshkosh", Wittman placed second in the Greve Trophy Race. Wittman flew "Bonzo" in the Thompson Trophy race, and he led for the first 18 laps of the 20 lap race, at an average speed of over 275 mph (442.57 km/h). Suddenly his engine began to run rough, and Wittman was forced to throttle back to remain in the race, finishing in 5th place. In 1938, he was awarded the Louis Blériot medal by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
Also in 1937, Wittman designed and built "Buttercup". A high wing design built to outperform the Cubs, Chiefs, T-Crafts, and Luscombes of the day. Based on that aircraft, he built the Wittman Big X in 1945, and the popular Wittman Tailwind series of homebuilts.
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