______Bowers Flybaby

Designed by Peter M. Bowers, a Boeing engineer, the Fly Baby won the first EAA design contest back in 1962. The 'Baby is everyman's homebuilt... cheap and easy to build, fly, and maintain. Over four hundred have been built, and they turn up quite often in Trade-a-Plane or on airport bulletin boards.

Mention "single seat homebuilts," and most people think of really tiny aircraft. But that's untrue in the case of the Fly Baby. The wingspan and length are only a couple of feet less than a Cessna 150, but even a 65 hp Fly Baby has better wing and power loadings. Many are upgraded to 85 or even 100 horsepower. The deep fuselage encloses all but the pilot's head. The prop hub is at eye level, and the wing is broad and long. The basic structure is spruce, with 1/8" marine mahogany plywood on the fuselage and fabric-covered wings and tail feathers. Both the low wing and horizontal stabilizer are wire braced.

The Fly Baby is the "transformer" of general aviation. The wings fold, the plane can be converted from monoplane to biplane in an hour, the cockpit can be enclosed, and floats can be installed. On land or lake, a Fly Baby can do it all. (credit: KITPLANES magazine. February 1989 issue, author Ron Wanttaja).

The following article was taken from Janes  "All The Worlds Aircraft" 1972-1972 and provided by the previous owner, Mr. Fred Crouse of Fremont, California