By William Rotenberry, EAA 669408
This piece originally ran in the May 2022 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
I started considering building my airplane in the late 1990s after growing tired of rental airplanes. I found the Fly Baby and liked that there were so many made and successfully flown (500-plus), it seemed relatively easy to build, and most flight reviews raved over its excellent controls and fun demeanor. I called Pete Bowers, the designer of the Fly Baby that won EAA’s national design competition in 1962, in the summer of 2001 and cut my first piece on September 8, 2001. Even though it’s a plansbuilt airplane, I never thought it would take this long, but like many, life sometimes got in the way. I moved four times, and then the project would sit for months. Sometimes I hit a point where I couldn’t stand the thought of working on it, and it would sit for a few months until the fire was rekindled. I never considered stopping, though.
I built the airplane following the plans closely. Prices for wood have definitely gone up, and I think I would now have searched for lower-priced options like Douglas fir instead of Sitka spruce. The Fly Baby uses a lot of turnbuckles, and they are the biggest cost of the project after the engine. Still, it’s a project that can be built at a reasonable cost.
A Corvair engine provides thrust. It is a standard 2.7-liters and generates 100 hp using a Tennessee 64-by-38 wooden propeller. It took about two hours of ground run time to get the engine timing and the throttle body mixture settings just right, and it runs very smoothly. Calling it a Corvair is a bit of a misnomer. Only the cylinders and the case are original and not significantly reworked. The crankshaft was reground and nitrided for added strength. Their camshaft is new, but the heads were reworked with new stainless steel valves with rotators. Other new items include pistons, rings and rods, oil pan, oil system, top cover, starter, exhaust pipes, intake manifold, harmonic balancer, and dual points distributor.
I used the 35-mm Sonex AeroInjector for fuel delivery. The fuel tank in the Fly Baby is high enough that it makes gravity feed into the AeroInjector ideal. I installed the AeroInjector exactly as outlined in its manual, and with minimal adjustment, it operates extremely well. My mixture control travel from full rich to lean cutoff is 3 inches and seems very linear, so that leaning the engine is easy and doesn’t require minute movement to get it just right. William Wynne at FlyCorvair.net was a tremendous source of parts, guidance, and inspiration.
The airplane has no engine-driven electrical system (no alternator). Instead, I have mounted a Basic Aircraft Products BPE-14 wind turbo alternator. It puts out 10 amps at 12 volts, which is more than enough for my little electrical requirements.
I used the Stewart Systems covering. I found the system easy to learn and forgiving to early mistakes. The many YouTube videos outlining the process made it easy to follow, and the results were very good. For paint I used exterior latex. This has been used for several decades, and there is a lot of good information on the internet on best methods and durability. The white was sprayed with an airless sprayer and has a nice satin finish. The red accent was rolled on and then brushed to smooth the texture of the paint. Touch-ups are easy with latex paint.
Instrumentation is primarily steam gauges with an iFly 740b GPS and a handheld Icom radio. This is plenty for rural northern Michigan flying.
I appreciate the assistance of my EAA Technical Counselor Stuart Hyde and Ron Wanttaja, EAA 275698, a Fly Baby owner and flyer and the creator and host of The Unofficial Fly Baby Home Page at BowersFlyBaby.com.
Attention — Aircraft Builders and Restorers
We would love to share your story with your fellow EAA members in the pages of EAA Sport Aviation magazine, even if it’s a project that’s been completed for a while. Readers consistently rate the “What Our Members are Building/Restoring” section of the magazine as one of their favorites, so don’t miss the chance to show off your handiwork and inspire your peers to start or complete projects of their own. Learn more ->