Bowers Fly Baby 1-A
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Fly Baby is Peter Bowers's single-seat open-cockpit wooden parasol monoplane, winner of the EAA's 1962 design contest and built from plans by the hundreds since: 605 lb empty, 924 lb gross, folding wings, a Continental of 65-85 hp, and 1978 directory figures of 110 mph cruise, a 45 mph stall and 300 miles.
It is one of the cheapest aeroplanes to own and one of the simplest to maintain, wood and fabric with a small Continental, and the price of that is a 100-mph open cockpit with a 319 lb useful load that will not go anywhere in a hurry or in weather. Because it is plans-built in wood, the condition of the spruce, glue joints and fabric is the whole inspection, and a hangar-kept example with a documented history is worth far more than a cheap one that has lived outside; the figures here are a directory's for a C-85 example and each aircraft's weight and performance are its own. Fly Babys are also built as the Bi-Baby biplane, which is a different wing and not this row. The owner may maintain it and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman certificate.
Variants of the Bowers Fly Baby
- Fly Baby 1-A · 1962 · 97 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 8.2 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
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- Bowers Fly Baby 1-A
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What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tailwheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Continental C-85 (A-65 to C-90 fitted) |
| Horsepower | 85 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1962 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 96 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 261 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 1,100 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 39 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 319 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 924 lb |
| Empty weight | 605 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $9,500 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $14,900 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 261 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 97 |
| Median year built | 1984 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 20.62 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 20.62 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 11 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 11.34 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 2 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 97 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 97 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 97 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 1.1 of 103 |
| Support | 5.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 8.2 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 6 · scores Sep 30