EAA Video of Fly Baby Biplane

[rwanttaja]

Yes, I'm a Fly Baby nut. But this knocked my socks off, especially the air-to-air video....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caWVZ-smROQ

Ron Wanttaja

[Dana]

Nice vid... but it makes me think, how cool it would look with a De Havilland rudder shape...

[DaleB]

I think it's just awesome. Gorgeous. I love it.

[Byron J. Covey]

Nice. Where was it filmed?


BJC

[FlyingRon]

Nice. Where was it filmed?
If I had to venture a guess, I would say the vicinity of Oshkosh, WI.

[rwanttaja]

If I had to venture a guess, I would say the vicinity of Oshkosh, WI.
Yep... Kurt had his Fly Baby at the show last summer, and they took the pictures there. Believe there'll be an article about him and the plane in an upcoming Sport Aviation.

Ron Wanttaja

[Byron J. Covey]

Thanks. Hope to see it at Oshkosh in 2017.


BJC

[Floatsflyer]

Believe there'll be an article about him and the plane in an upcoming Sport Aviation.

Ron Wanttaja

Yup, it's in the January SA. Got the online version yesterday. Great pics and article. It's a cute little thing.

Ron, is it possible to convert yours to a biplane if you so desired or would you have to start from scratch?

[FlyingRon]

I'm the other Ron, but I can answer it. You can put the biplane wings on an existing (monoplane) Fly Baby.

[rwanttaja]

I'm the other Ron, but I can answer it. You can put the biplane wings on an existing (monoplane) Fly Baby.
The other Ron is, of course right. But, of course, two Rons don't make a Wright.

The biplane conversion can be done on any Fly Baby (it was done on the prototype after completion) and most of the changes are minor. Basically, additional wire-attach points are added to the top of the firewall and to the landing-gear attach bolts. Four new wing panels are built (the monoplane wings aren't used), a wing center section, two wing struts, and a pair of cabane struts.

The biplane history is interesting. Pete Bowers always had planned a biplane and a parasol version of the Fly Baby. When he was writing the biplane plans, he got into an argument with his draftsman. Hence, about halfway through the biplane plans, the nice drawings degenerate into sketches.

You can download the biplane version of the plans at:

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/biplane_small.pdf

Pete never did do the Parasol, probably because of the access problems with the wings right over the cockpit (the biplane wings are swept back to set the top wing forward of the cockpit).

Only about a dozen biplane Fly Babies have been built, and only two or three Fly Babies have both sets of wings. N500F, the prototype, has both sets, of course, and is being prepared for museum display.

The other one I know of was built in Great Britain...

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/pix/day2.jpg

But now is in "Monoplane Only" mode with a few more modifications!

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/pix/junkers6.JPG

(Yes, it IS the same airplane!)

I posted the history of the Bowers Fly Baby Biplane to:

http://www.biplaneforum.com/showthread.php?t=10420

Ron Wanttaja

[Floatsflyer]

That's a lot of great answer to my question, thanks. I think I might be safe in saying that the Fly Baby could be considered the very first true "composite".

[FunInAviation]

Love it!