The Stits-Besler Executive is a three place

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

Development

The project was initiated when William Besler of Besler Corp. contracted Ray Stits to design a three-place homebuilt aircraft with folding wings. Besler was an early aviation experimenter, who had mounted a steam engine of his own design on a

Travel Air 2000 The Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 (originally, the Model A, Model B and Model BH were open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Tr ...

in 1933.

Design

The wings on the Executive fold aft and upward. Fuel tanks are embedded in the non-folding wing roots. The

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

is welded steel tube with fabric covering. The

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement arou ...

s are mounted in the center of the wing rather than the tips.

Operational history

The sole Executive, (registration no. N36K), has been used as a test bed for Besler-designed engines; a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

and a two cycle, four cylinder Vee rated at .

Specifications (Stits-Besler Executive)

Notes

References

External links

1000 aircraft photos
{{Stits aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1955 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear 1950s United States sport aircraft Executive