Bowers Fly Baby

The Bowers Fly Baby is a plans-built, single-seat, wood and fabric monoplane with an open cockpit. The winner of the EAA's first (and only) design competition, it was designed by Peter M. Bowers in the mid-1950s to be powered by a 65 horsepower (48 kW) Continental A-65, although engines of up to 100 horsepower (75 kW) have been fitted. With the larger engine, the Fly Baby cruises at around 95 knots (176 km/h), so it's hardly fast. It is, however, easy to construct, and described as much like building a balsa-wood model plane. Many of the components used, like the engine and firewall, are taken from the Piper J-3 Cub, bringing the total cost of construction down close to the $6,000 US point. The wings fold, to make storage easy, and the whole plane can be constructed in the average car garage.