Built by Edward C. Hoffman, the X-1 Sweet Patootie was first flown on 24 February 1960 and initially fitted with a 65hp Continental A65 engine. The following year N6313D was re-engined with a 90hp Continental C90 and it also received some modifications such as a tear drop canopy.
Ed inherited his love for aviation from his father, Edward C. Hoffman II. Edward. In 1970 the original design, the Hoffman X-1, nicknamed Sweetpotootie, was flown to the Oshkosh fly-in.
Sweetpotootie was built in an open barn by Lake Tarpon that was tucked away by the orange groves. The airplane took one year and four days to build from beginning to first flight. The prop was built by well-known EAA member Ray Hegy. About 2007, Ed stopped flying Sweetpotootie due to an issue with fuel starvation and rough flight. When EAA reached out to him this March about bringing the airplane back for the 50th celebration, Ed realized that the plan he had to rebuild it after he retired would need to start early.
The restoration for Sweetpotootie started in March 2019, and on July 6, 2019, it was airborne once again. The all-wood airplane built with Weldwood glue needed a new carburetor, restored brakes, fresh spark plugs, and some cosmetic work. One thousand hours of restoration work has been put into the aircraft to make it flyable again. This uniquely designed airplane has a 90-hp Continental engine and is iconic in the southern United States.
With only a few months before the 50th consecutive fly-in, the priority of the restoration was making the airplane airworthy and less on cosmetic work.
“It looks like a 60-year-old plane. It has all the battle scars, but that makes it sentimental,” Ed said. He plans to find his father’s logbook from his first flight to Oshkosh and make the same trip. “I want to make the same fuel stops, same flight path. I want this flight to be a tribute to my father,” Ed said.
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