Bowers Fly Baby 1B
The Bowers Fly Baby won the Experimental Aircraft Association's 1962 design contest, judged for being cheap to build, easy to fly, and foldable for trailering. Seattle engineer Peter Bowers built the prototype for about $1,050 over 720 hours, first flying it in July 1960. Its wings fold flat for towing behind a car, exactly as the EAA competition demanded. A distinctive variant, the Fly Baby 1B, adds a second, removable lower wing, converting the parasol monoplane into a biplane for extra lift or a lower stall speed. Plans have been sold through EAA's Sport Aviation magazine since 1963, and over 500 examples have been completed by amateur builders worldwide.
Did you know?
The Fly Baby 1B is the variant that wears a second, removable lower wing — spot it by its biplane silhouette among high-wing homebuilt aircraft.
Specifications
| Length | 5.7 m (19 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 6.7 m (22 ft) |
| Height | 2.1 m (7 ft) |
| Persons on board | 1 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 0.4 t |
| Range | 180 NM (333 km) |
| Service ceiling | 14,000 ft (4,267 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 10,000 ft (3,048 m) |
| Rate of climb | 870 ft/min (4.4 m/s) |
| Take-off distance | 100 m (328 ft) |
| Landing distance | 120 m (394 ft) |
| Fuel capacity | 60 l |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Bowers Fly Baby 1B starts as a Rare catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Bowers, the Fly Baby 1B family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
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