The Cassutt Special is a single-seat sport and

racing aircraft Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previ ...

designed in the United States in 1951 for Formula One air races. Plans are still available for homebuilding. Designed by ex-

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

captain Tom Cassutt, it is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailwheel undercarriage. The fuselage and tail are of fabric-covered steel tube construction, and the wings are built from plywood over wooden ribs. An updated taper-wing design was first flown in 1971 on Jim Wilson's "Plum Crazy". Plans and parts are available from Creighton King of

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, United States, for amateur construction. King also offers plans for the Stockbarger tapered wood wing.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 113. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 119. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The aircraft is built with a 4130 tubular steel spaceframe

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 ...

and a plywood-skinned wing with solid spruce spar and built-up ribs. The design lends itself well to modification, there being several different wing options of wood or composite construction. Several different tails have been built, including

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...

s. The standard engine used for competition is the

Continental O-200 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

, while other, lower-powered engines can be used for recreational flying, including the other small

Continental A65 The Continental O-170 engine is the collective military designation for a family of small aircraft engines, known under the company designation of A50, A65, A75 and A80. The line was designed and built by Continental Motors commencing in the 194 ...

and

Continental C90 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

. Cassutt Aircraft discourages the use of auto conversions or larger Lycoming engines. Lycoming’s have been successful in several builds but the increased weight rarely gives the desired performance boost.

Operational history

*1958 - Tom Cassutt flies his Cassutt to win the National Championship Midget Air Races at

Ft. Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

Variants

;Cassutt I :Developed in 1951, First race at Dansville, New York in 1954. ;Cassutt II ;Casutt IIM : wingspan ;Cassutt IIIM : wingspan ;Cassutt IIIM Sport : wingspanPurdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 213. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Specifications (Cassutt III racer)

References

* {{cite book , last= Taylor , first= Michael J. H. , title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation , year=1989 , publisher=Studio Editions , location=London , pages=239
Manufacturer's website

Owners's Forum
1950s United States sport aircraft

Special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Racing aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1954

Design and development

Operational history

Variants

Specifications (Cassutt III racer)

See also

References