{{Infobox aircraft | name = Buttercup | logo = | logo_size = | image = Wittman Buttercup.jpg | alt = | caption = Wittman Buttercup on display | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Homebuilt aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = | manufacturer = | design_group = | designer = Steve Wittman | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = Original - 1938, Replica - 2002 | retired = | first_flight = Original - 1938, Replica - April 14, 2002 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = Wittman Tailwind | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}
thumb|Wittman Buttercup The '''Wittman W-5 Buttercup''' is a two place aircraft designed and built by Steve Wittman in 1938.<ref name=airventure>{{cite web | title=Wittman Buttercup Model W | publisher=AirVenture Museum|location=Oshkosh, WI| date=3 October 2006 | url=https://www.eaa.org/eaa-museum/museum-collection/aircraft-collection-folder/1938-wittman-buttercup-model-w---n18268| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126122845/http://museum.eaa.org/collection/aircraft/Wittman%20Buttercup%20Model%20W.asp | archive-date=26 November 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref> Designated as the Buttercup Model W,<ref name=airventure/> the original aircraft is housed in the Experimental Aircraft Association, EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, WI.
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.<ref>{{Cite magazine|magazine=Experimenter|date=September 2012|issue=1|volume=12|last=Jones|first=Mary|title=50 Years + and still flying: You're building a what where? - Steve Wittman's Buttercup|url=https://www.eaa.org/~/media/Files/EAA/EducationResources/Experimenter/1209.pdf|page=14}}</ref>
Experimental Aircraft Association member Earl Luce Jr. developed a replica Buttercup design, which first flew on April 14, 2002.<ref>EAA Sport Aviation, vol. 51, no. 6, p. 22, June 2002</ref> He made a set of plans for his design, available for home builders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.luceair.com/index.html|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207225759/http://luceair.com/index.html|archive-date=7 December 2022|title=LuceAir LLC ~ the Homebuilt Rag & Tube Aircraft Experts ~ Wittman W-5 Buttercup|date=10 June 2016}}</ref> On 28 May 2023, 70-year-old Earl Luce Jr., said to be an excellent pilot, and his passenger were killed when the buttercup crashed as he was flying over Orleans County, New York, US.<ref name=crash>{{cite news| last=Rivers | first=Tom | last2=Kropf | first2=Ginny | title=Names of pilot and passenger released from fatal plane crash Sunday in Yates | publisher=Orleans Hub | date=30 May 2023 | url=https://orleanshub.com/names-of-pilot-and-passenger-released-from-fatal-plane-crash-sunday-in-yates/}}</ref>
==Specifications (1938 Wittman Buttercup - Model W - N18268) ==
{{Aircraft specs |prime units? = imp |ref=<ref name=airventure/> |crew= 1 |capacity= 2 |length ft= 20 |length in= 3 |length m= 6.17 |span ft= 30 |span in= 0 |span m= 9.14 |height ft= 5 |height in= 9 |height m= 1.75 |empty weight lb= 690 |empty weight kg= 313 |max takeoff weight lb= 1390 |max takeoff weight kg= 630 |eng1 name= piston engine |eng1 hp= 85 |eng1 number=1 |max speed mph= 145 |max speed note=(V<sub>ne</sub>) |cruise speed mph =123 }}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * [https://www.eaa.org Experimental Aircraft Association Web site] * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20020526233747/http://www.luceair.com/ LuceAir - The Homebuilt Rag & Tube Aircraft Experts]}} * [http://www.airventuremuseum.org EAA AirVenture Museum] * [http://www.wingsforum.com/viewforum.php?f=320 Buttercup Building Log]
{{Wittman aircraft}}
Category:Homebuilt aircraft Buttercup Category:Aircraft first flown in 1938 Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:High-wing aircraft Category:United States sport aircraft