07/20/2026. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "The Stits-Besler SA-4A Executive was designed and built by Ray Stits at West Riverside, California, USA, for William Besler of the Besler Corporation at Oakland, California. Completed and registered N36K in 1954, the Executive was used to test the market for a folding wing monoplane to be towed by a car to and from the airport. The project failed to achieve commercial success.

(Ed Coates Memorial Collection)

By June 1, 1963, the sole SA-4A Executive had been sold to Robert C. Groom of Indio, California, by July 1, 1970 it was sold to Lauren A. Jones of El Centro. In the FAA register of January 1, 1973, the N36K registration was "pending", the registration had disappeared from the July 1, 1973 register."

(W.T. Larkins Memorial Collection)

Type: Three-seat Cabin monoplane.
Wings: Braced canted low-wing. Constant chord fabric-covered structure with inverted V-struts on each side of the fuselage. Time required to fold wings manually is stated to be one minute.
Fuselage: Steel-tube structure with fabric covering.
Tail unit: Wire-braced monoplane type. Fabric covering.
Landing gear: Tri-gear with steerable tail-wheel. Oleo shock absorber struts.
Power plant: One 150 hp Lycoming O-320 four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine. Two-blade fixed-pitch wooden propeller.
Accommodation: Cabin seats three, two side-by-side in front and one in rear. Entry door on starboard side.

Span: 25 ft 6 in (7.7 m)
Span, wings folded: 7 ft 5 in (2.25 m)
Length: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Height, wings folded: 6 ft 11 in (2.1 m)
Wing area: 120 sq.ft (11.14 sq.m)
Empty weight: 800 lb (363 kg)
Disposable load 650 lb (295 kg)
Fuel capacity 24 gal (91 l)
Loaded weight: 1,450 lb (658 kg)
Wing loading: 12.8 lb/sq.ft (62.46 kg/sq.m)
Power loading: 9.6 lb/hp (4.34 kg/hp)
Max speed: 165 mph (264 kmh)
Cruise speed: 150 mph (240 kmh)
Stall speed: 50 mph (80 kmh)
Climb: 2,500 ft (760 m)/min