The Wittman W-5 Buttercup is a two place aircraft designed and built by

Steve Wittman Sylvester Joseph "Steve" Wittman (April 5, 1904 – April 27, 1995) was an American air-racer and aircraft engineer. An illness in Wittman's infancy claimed most of his vision in one eye, which convinced him from an early age that his dre ...

in 1938. Designated as the Buttercup Model W, the original aircraft is housed in the

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

EAA AirVenture Museum The EAA Aviation Museum, formerly the EAA AirVenture Museum (or Air Adventure Museum), is a museum dedicated to the preservation and display of historic and experimental aircraft as well as antiques, classics, and warbirds. The museum is lo ...

Oshkosh, WI Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

. The Buttercup was considered as the basis for a four place certified production model by Fairchild Aircraft. Fairchild executives were impressed with the aircraft that chance landed at their factory airport in Hagerstown, Maryland. Wittman sold production rights, but Fairchild did not pursue the effort due to wartime production obligations.

member Earl Luce developed a replica Buttercup design which first flew April 14, 2002. His representation of the Buttercup design is available as a set of plans for home builders.

Specifications (1938 Wittman Buttercup - Model W - N18268)

References

External links

Experimental Aircraft Association

LuceAir - The Homebuilt Rag & Tube Aircraft Experts

EAA AirVenture Museum

Buttercup Building Log
{{Wittman aircraft Homebuilt aircraft

Buttercup ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed in Europe, ...

Aircraft first flown in 1938 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft United States sport aircraft