Building his first Pitts at 14 and having no previous Pitts flying time, Eddie Saurenman strapped himself into his first single-seater open cockpit Pitts S1 and started flying at 17 for two to three hours a day to gain over 1000 hours in the world renowned Pitts Special before the age of 20; squeezing in being issued a Repairman Certificate and earning his FAA unlimited aerobatic-manoeuver and altitude waiver at 18 years of age, which he maintained for ten years.
At 15 years of age Eddie was soloed by Jack Lowers, a monumental step into a world of wonder and went on to fly airshows at 18 with names that are now legend, like airshow pilots; Jimmy Franklin, Steve Franklin, Duane Cole, Marion Cole, Harold Newman, Bob Huer and many others.
“I also started flying Formula Ones at 18. Those were some great times in the USA….No PCBS back then!”
Eddie's aviation career started in 1975 working for Aerotek in Albuquerque, New Mexico building 15 meter composite sailplanes with mentor, George Applebay. Over the next several years, Eddie worked at many of the major aircraft manufacturing companies in Wichita, Kansas such as Cessna, Beechcraft, LearJet, Raytheon, Bombardier, Helio Aircraft and others. Eddie learned the industry from the ground up starting with de-burring parts at Cessna to working his way through tooling, aircraft assembly lines, manufacturing planning, scientific information systems, airframe and systems design, aerodynamic and structural technical analysis, etc.
Eddie's passion has always been aerobatics and aerobatic aircraft design. He has designed and modified airplanes for a number of today’s premier airshow pilots. These modifications include wing design, tail designs, fuselage modifications, control system modifications and installation of turbojet engines as auxiliary thrust units. When you see Sean Tucker, John Klatt’s Screamin’ Sasquatch,” Kyle Franklin’s “Dracula,” Skip Stewart and many others fly, you’re seeing Eddie Saurenman’s contributable expertise in action.
Now under Saurenman Aero Works, Inc. (SAW), Eddie has designed the next great aerobatic airplane, the “SAW Revolution,” an all carbon fiber biplane in addition to a super light aerobatic monoplane called the “SAW Revo."
Eddie's latest design project is the Jet Pitts S2S for RichGoodwin Airshows, which is the most anticipated addition to the international air show industry. This Jet Pitts will have a thrust to weight ratio of approximately 1.15 to 1!!! for absolutely amazing aerobatic maneuvers.
