1/4 SCALE BOWERS FLY BABY - NGH GF 30CC SINGLE CYLINDER FOUR STROKE PETROL ENGINE - TMFC - 2024

PILOT / OWNER - MARK HEWETT,
The Bowers Fly Baby is a homebuilt, single-seat, open-cockpit, wood and fabric low-wing monoplane that was designed by famed United States aircraft designer and Boeing historian, Peter M. Bowers.
Role Sport and personal aircraft
Manufacturer homebuilt aircraft
Designer Peter M. Bowers
First flight 1962
Produced 1962 to present
Number built More than 500
Variants - Duane's Hangar Ultrababy
The prototype Fly Baby first flew in 1962, becoming the winner of the Experimental Aircraft Association's 1962 design competition.
Variants include a biplane version called the Bowers Bi-Baby or Fly Baby 1-B, a floatplane version, and several dual-cockpit designs by various builders. Bowers also designed a side-by-side two-seat version he called Namu II, but few examples have been built.
Over 500 Fly Babies have been completed to date, with numerous still flying worldwide and an active network of builders and owners. It is built from plans and was designed to be constructed in a garage using only basic hand tools, by a person of average "home handyman" skill in 1962.
The plans consist of over one hundred pages of typewritten instructions and dimensioned drawings. After Bowers' death in 2003 the plans were unavailable for a time. Starting in 2007 they were back on the market, sold by the Bowers family.
Design -
To win the 1962 Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Design Contest, Bowers designed the small plane to meet EAA's criteria for a low-cost, folding-wing airplane that was easy to build and fly, and could be towed or trailered.
The Fly Baby was designed to be a very simple aircraft. For example, the fuel gauge is a stiff wire attached to a float poking up through the gas cap (a common application in the 1930s and 1940s, as seen on Piper and Aeronca light aircraft). The structure is of aircraft-grade spruce and plywood (Bowers did not advocate skimping on the quality of structural wood), covered with doped aircraft fabric,
Aileron controls are push-tube, elevator controls are a combination of push-tube and cable, the rudder is cable-controlled.
Although it is not intended for intense aerobatics, the Fly Baby can reportedly be flown through spins, simple loops, and barrel rolls.
The Fly Baby's wings fold up against the fuselage enabling it to be stored in a single-car garage or a car trailer. The wings can be folded or unfolded in about 15 minutes. The airplane was designed to be stored in a garage and towed to the airport on its own gear. In practice, most owners use a trailer or keep their Fly Baby hangared at an airport.
The landing gear is fixed and unsprung. The main landing gear struts are made of laminated wood with a steel axle. The only shock absorption comes from the tires themselves. (Some have been modified from, the original design, to use shock-absorbing, spring-steel landing gear legs.) Hydraulic wheel brakes are usually fitted.
The aircraft was designed to be powered by a 65-horsepower (48 kW) Continental A-65 piston engine taken from a Piper Cub. Engines of up to 100 horsepower (75 kW) have been fitted, including the Continental O-200 and converted Corvair automotive conversions.
While the instrumentation installed is up to the builder, most Fly Babys are equipped for visual flight rules (VFR) only. An electrical system is optional; many Fly Baby owners hand-prop the engine for starting, and use a handheld radio.
Some of the components used, such as the fuel tank and engine, were designed to be taken from the Piper Cub, which were cheap and plentiful in 1962. Even today, the total cost of construction can be under US$10,000.
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FILMED DOWN THE PATCH ON 28-7-2024,

[@onazram1]

Beautiful old airplane!

[@avipatable]

Cheaper than a foamy! And a lovely forgiving looking model. Perfect first flight of the day/season/new location kind of a plane :)

[@tbobborap1]

Couldn't agree more sam

[@gunslinger434]

I wouldn't be surprised if after a couple of those aerobatic maneuvers the chicken didn't leave a few eggs in the pilots lap. Sincerely a beautiful aircraft well flown. Cheers Pete!

[@robertcovell2787]

Nice. Reminds me of an enlarged AstroHog

[@leonbroekharst4724]

❤❤❤

[@charliechimples]

Nice tail. 🐵

[@798jamesb]

It looks and sounds like a ngh 30 4 stroke petrol to me don't think that's a twin. He's made to look like it has a twin but it's a dummy engine great modeling. Love the sound of it much nicer than a twin anyway in my opinion

[@MarkHewett-bx1cb]

Correct James, NGH GF30. I bought it second hand, cheap, on ebay, but it had a stripped exhaust thread (not described), missing exhaust,and it ran like a dog - wouldn't idle below 3,000rpm and lots of vibration. I replaced missing 'o' rings on the push rod tubes, missing rocker shaft bolt, new cylinder head, fitted an SC glow silencer (about half the weight of the NGH silencer so doesn't shake loose), replaced incorrectly machined prop driver so ignition timing could be set to 28 deg BTDC instead of the ridiculous 42 deg it was at, and modified the intake to take the pulse from the inlet manifold rather than the crankcase (as standard the carb can fill with oil from the crankcase messing up the tuning). It now runs nicely, and while not powerful, it does make a quite nice, cheap, torquey low rpm petrol four stroke for slow scale models. Hopefully somebody will find this useful...

[@798jamesb]

@@MarkHewett-bx1cb a friend of mine has a ngh 35 2 stroke petrol he's had nothing but problems with it always a pain to start requiring a electric starter every time no mater what. I've suggested he checked the timing on it. Am glad you have got it running correct the scope of what you have done to it may be above the pay grade of the average modler you seem to have it running very well now

[@MarkHewett-bx1cb]

@@798jamesb I don't know anything about the NGH 2 strokes, but if your mate hasn't already done it, with any Walbro type carb that isn't running well, it's worth re-building the carb with a service kit, the membranes can harden, especially if left out of use. And the tiny fuel passages easily block.

[@nomi86cool]

@@MarkHewett-bx1cbi have ngh 25cc for 2 years now, never let down never had dead-stick. The only problem i have is the vibration