Compiled by'

The World's Biggest Plones Brief Historyof the World'sSmollest Plqnes

ATRBUS 4380There ore only five world's smollest plones builtsince

,l948. Young Roy Stits built two midgei

plones: Stits Junior of wing spon B ft I O inch inI 948 qnd 4 yeors loter he built the bi-plone theSky Boby, 7 ft 2 inch to beot his own record.Both plones were test piloted by Bob Stqrr, his

close friend. The Pilot's weight hod to be 160 Lb.

ln l9B0 Bob Storr broke off from Roy Stits qndbuilt his own world's smollest plone, the BumbleBee (6ft 6inch) ond flew it himself to clinch the

title. Thus long time friends becqme rivols

ln l9B7 Roy's son Don Stits built the Boby Bird(6ft 3inch), thus beot Bob's record. Thot moiden

, flight is in the Guinness Book of Records.

ln I 9BB Bob Stqrr constructed the Bumble Bee(wing spon 5ft 6inch) with the hope of gettingbock into the Records. During the flight the

oircroft croshed qnd Bob Storr wos neorly killed.

To this dote, Don Stits still holds the title in theGuinness Book of Record with his Boby Bird.

These world's smollest plones ore not productionplones. Only one of eqch built wos to clinch

the title os the World's Smollest Plone wiih theshortest wing spon.

To this dqte, the world's biggest possenger plone is the AIRBUS 4380.Everyone knows obout it,

Likewise, the world's biggest corgo plone is the Russion

AN 225 MRIYA ond the Americon H-4 Hercules 2 "Spruce Goose" in the

l93Os. Some know obout them.

When mentioned the world's smollest plone - very very few oviotors connome it or know obout it. ln foct, there ore five of them beoting eoch other tocloim the World's Smollest Plqne since 1948, ie 60 yeors ogo in Americo.

Turn to next poge to find out more of eoch of them.

The World's Smollest Plones

H 7 Hercules 2 "Spruce Goose

"o '"'

STITS JR.

STITS JUNIOR 1948The three Stits oircroft, nomely: ")uniot", "SkyBoby" ond

"Boby Bird" ore title holders of World's Smollest Plones wonrespectively in 1948,

,l952 ond 1987 by designer-builder

Roy Stits ond his son Don Stits of Americo.The humble write-up of the World's Smollest Aircrqft

is to commemorote STITS AIRCRAFT 60th ANNIVERSARY

11948 - 2008) ond their greotest ochievements in the lost60 yeors of midget oviotion history.

Pleose reqd on the humour os well os the seriousflying side of the "Pigmy" plones.

It moy be the tiniest on existence, but no little time ondeffort went into its mokeup. lts creotor, Roymond Stits,olwoys wonted to build o midget rocing plone. Whenhe finolly got oround to storting one lwo yeors ogo, he

decided he would moke it the world's smqllest. For morethqn 360 hours, Stits sweqted qnd lobored over his

brqinchild qnd now it hqs been completed...qnd it flies.Totol investment: US$5,500.

Jr.'s wing spon is Bft. lOin. ond it hqs o length of I lft.4in. lts cockpit is only l6 in. wide, q bit nqrrow for Stitswho weighs 185 pounds ond is 6ft. toll. Therefore mostof the test flying is done by 25 yeor-old Bob Storr who is

smoller but hos plenty of flying experience... over 40OOhours in the post nine yeors. He's flown everything fromCulver Codet to o Joponese Zero, but he likes Jr. best.

Stits hopes to morket it some doy. He soys it should cosiUS$ I 600 moss-produced.

Aeriol Holf-Pint by Joseph srocker

Amid ieers of hls friends, oviotionmechonic Roy Stits designed ond builtthe smollest oirplone in the world in1948.

Roymond Stits is o young oviotionmechqnic o nd self+oug ht oeronouticoldesigner who loves lo confound theskeptics. And he's been doing iustthot for the post couple of yeors ormore.

When he let it be known ot KelloggField in Bottle Creek, Michigon, thothe wos going to build the world'ssmqllest oirplone, the skeptics colledit "Rqy Stits' folly." But the plone gotbuilt. Then the wise guys soid it wouldnever fly. lt flew. Well, O.K. soid theknow-it-olls, but it won't fly very high.Whereupon Roy's pilot wriggled intothe cockpit ond took the mite up to3,300 feet.

Life hos been full of such delights ondsotisfoctions since Roy ond his pilot,Bob Storr, begon to corve o thinswoth ocross the country - from oirshow to oir show - with the Lilliputionoircroft which Roy colls the "Stits Jr."

There seems to be no doubt ot ollthot it is indeed the world's smollestoirplone. Roy hos checkedevery possible source ond found noneother even to compore with it. Just togive you on ideo of its minuteness,

here ore some of the dimensions ofthe Stits Jr.:

Wingspreod - B' ,l0" (iust o little

over the spon of o mon's outstretchedorms). Overoll length - I l' 4".Weight - 398 pounds. Height -4' 4" loboul os high os o mon's ribs).

lf stotistics still don't quite convey theideq, consider the foct thot the pilotof the Stits Jr. con reqch out to eitherside from his cockpit ond touch theoilerons. Or he con reoch bockwordond touch the toil surfoces. Givenextro-long orms, he might even beoble to reqch down from the cockpitond touch the ground.But the performonce of the Stits Jr.

wholly belies its holf-pint dimensions.As Roy puts it, os though he himselfmust morvel o little ot whot he hoswrought, "lt isn't supposed to fly butit does." And, on B5-horsepowerContinentol engine-clips off o topspeed of 17O miles per hour. ltcruises ot 150, lqnds ond tokes offot 60. "Thot's whot ostounds peoplethe most," soys Roy. "lt stolls out ot85 insteod of 12O. lt comes in likeo rock."

The plone tokes off in 500 feet, londsin 800 ond hqs on 85OJeet-o-minuterote of climb. Roy cloims o serviceceiling of 12,000 feet for his pygmy,but the ship hos never tried for the

ceiling becouse it corries only 4 1/z

gollons of fuel - enough for no morethon qn hour of flying time.

Although the plone is sturdily built (twomen con stond on eoch tiny wing todemonstrote its stress), the foctors ofweight ond bolonce ore exceedinglydelicote. The pilot corries no chute. Achute weighs 25 pounds, ond thot's

iust 25 pounds too much. When theship is porked in the honger, Roykeeps o bog of rocks in the cockpit.This is becouse she hos o tendencyto be nose-heovy on the ground ondsomeone leoning thoughtlessly on theprop could couse her to kneel overond kiss the cement.

The elfin wings hove no tips. They'rechopped off squore. With wing tips,soys Roy, "there would be extro drogond no extro lift, ond with this thingyou need oll the lift you con get." To

provide more lift, Roy ottoched tipplotes to the wing-ends. They preventthe flow of oir off the wing-ends ondthe effect hos been to cut londing

Bononza pilot: "Egod, mon, butthose radio<ontrolled models sure dolook reolistic! Looko thot figure in thecockpit, looks olmost reol."

speed by 5 mph.

The rodio is on AirboyJr., for receivingonly. lt's holf the size of o cigor boxond is clomped neor the floorboord,between the rudder pedols. Theinstrument ponel is simplicity itself

- nothing more thon o temperoturegouge, oirspeed indicotor, oilpressure, oltimeter ond tochometer.

Why wos the midget built in the firstploce? No porticulor reoson, exceptthot Roy Stits, besides being the kindof guy who loves to confound theskeptics, is olso the kind of guy wholoves to toke o dore.

"Everybody wos cloiming to hovebuilt the world's smollest oirplone,"he soys. "So I decided l'd reolly builtthe smollest. I decided l'd show themhow smoll o plone could be ondsrill fly."

ln 1948, while he wos working otKellogg Field, Roy storted buildingthe Stits Jr. in his spore time. He used

old cost-off fuseloge moteriol. Forthe londing geor, he got two BT-13

toilwheels, l0 inches in diometer.He converted o bicycle broke into otoil brqke, controlled from o level onthe stick.

The prop wos o problem. lt hod tobe iust so. Roy osked the HortzellPropeller Co. of Piquo, Ohio, todesign one speciolly for the Stits Jr.

The Hortzell people weren't quitesure whqt it wqs oll obout, but theyfilled the bill. The prop - groundodiustoble for pitch - is only 60inches in diometer.

It took l4 months to design ond builtthe Stits Jr. ond it costs Roy $5,500,counting his lobor. When it wosfinished, his trouble still hod onlybegun. Now come the iob of gettingit into the oir, which involved - firstof oll -, the iob of finding someone tofly it. Roy wos o licensed pilot but tooheovy (180) for the Stits Jr. He triedto toke off ond couldn't even get thetoil wheel up.

Bononzo pilot: "Egod, mon, butthose rodio-controlled models sure dolook reolistic! Looko thot figure in thecockpit, looks olmost reol."

He finolly found o pilot. The pilot tookthe Stits Jr. off the ground five times

- ond crocked up three. He wolkedowoy from eoch crock-up, but Royhod to rebuild the ship. "l'll give himcredit for hoving the guts to try it,though," soys Roy.

Then he heord obout Bob Storr. Bobwos o young crop duster ot Lonsing

- o P-5.l veteron of the Chino-Burmo-lndio Theoter, He'd ioined theCoterpillor Club over the Chino coqstwhen he ron into Joponese groundfire ond boiled out 400 miles southof Shonghoi. Since the wqr he hodbeen doing q lot of oir show workbesides his crop dusting. He hod5,000 hours of flying time ond - ofno less importonce - he weighedonly 160 pounds.

When their boby wos well shokendown, Roy ond Bob took her on theoir show circuit, corting her oroundon o troiler. Recently they tronsferredtheir bose of operotions from BottleCreek to Phoenix, Arizono, whichis Roy's hometown. Phoenix, withits yeor round flying weother, givesthem o chonce to put the Stits Jr. inthe oir ony time they feel like it.

Roy's oeriol smidgin, licensednow os on experimentol ship ondrestricted only ogoinst operotionsover congested oreos, is the stor ofevery show it enters. lt's usuolly thelost item on the bill, by which timethe crowd, hoving exomined thesprite, is rother evenly divided on theburning question of the doy: Will itfly or won't it?

Most people, soys Roy, "wont tosee it fly before they'll believe it."Mony demond to know where the"rest of the wing" is. An occosionoldisbeliever, spying the Stits Jr.'s rodio

ontenno thinks thot's the missing piecein the puzzle. "Shucks" he soys, "l'llbet it's rodio-controlled." Roy's replyis stroight-foced: Yes, but we hoveto send o mon olong to control therodio.

The Stits Jr.'s oir show routine issweet, quick ond simple - o few turnsqround the field, some stroight ondlevel flying ondbuzz the crowd. Bobstoys up no more thon o holf-hour oto time, keeping o holf-hour of fuel inreserve. And no oerobotics, becouse,of course, no chute.

The ship is so sensitive thot Bob fliesher literolly with two fingers - histhumb ond index - brocing his wriston one knee. "ln ony other ploneyou con sit up there, trim her up ondfly olong thinking obout your girl orsomething," he soys. "With this ;obyou think obout flying it oll the iime."

But the Stits Jr. is still sturdy enoughnot to require perfect flyingconditions. At the Miomi (Flo.) All-Americon Moneuvers the wind woshot ond gusly, ond severol octs hodto be cqnceled. But the little iob comethrough without foltering. On onotheroccosion it flew with wings iced over.Only once hos Bob Storr hod to mokeo forced londing. At o Michigonshow his engine conked. He deod-sticked in without mishop.

Not unnqturolly, the Stits Jr. holdsboundless fqscinoiion for curiosity-seekers. "Everybody hos to touch it."

Soys Bob. "lf the locol sheriff steppedup iust before I toke off ot on oirshow, he could get the fingerprints ofeverybody in the country."

To cosuol on lookers such os these,the Stits Jr. is doubtless o freqk.But to its designer ond builder it is

for more thon thot. He believes thetrend in privote oviqtion is towqrdsmoller ships. And he is convincedthot his mighty midget incorporotesinnovotions of design ond structurewhich point the woy to o new type ofsmoll, fost sports pone - in o word,the qeriol hot rod of tomorrow.

Thot Roy Stits isn't olone in this ideomoy be deduced from the foct thoto compony expressed on inlerest in

moss-producing the Stits Jr. But Royintends to go it solo. He hos olreodystqrted construction of onother ship

- not quite os smoll os the Stits Jr. butstill smoller thon o Club - which heintends os the prototype of o speedylittle sports plone to be monufocturedby his own firm. The test pilot for thefirm? Bob Storr, of course.

The vision of oirports oll over thecountry o-sworm with these oeriolgnots moy seem for-fetched. But don'tbet your money thqt it won't hoppen.Roy Stits, if you'll remember, is o guywho loves to put the skeptics in theirploce.

Junior SensotionThe Stits Junior wos his first born. Alow wing monoplone with on B' I0"

sTrTS SKY BABY l19s2l

wingspon it coused quite o sensotionin 1949. He hod to rebuild it neorlyevery time it flew until he looked upStorr qnd tolked him into flying it.

Storr flew Musiongs ond P-4Os inBurmo during the Wor ond loter builtup o lot of Cub hours dusting oroundMoson, Michigon. Stits chose himfor his combinqtion of light ploneond high power, high wing loodingexperience ond exploined corefullyto him thot chopping off the powerot low speed hod the sqme effect onStits Junior os chopping off the wings.With Storr, the "every londing is ocrqsh lqnding" ended.

The portners moved to Coliforniofrom Michigon in eorly

.l950s ond

took iobs os flight line inspectors otPocific Airmotive Corp., Chino. Theywork on DC-4's ot night ond on SkyBoby during the doy.

Asked how Mrs. Storr likes holdingtheir yeor-old son in her orms,wotching her husbond fly Sky Boby,Storr soys, "Oh, she oll right, she hoso lot of foith in my flying." "And o lotof foith in my design," odds Stits. "lcorry o lot of insuronce," continuesStorr. "Of course," Stits points outeornestly, "she wouldn't wont him tofly onything dongerousl"

Slr's tlr sna/ltst

rrtrd tlt ttltst-

aucl SllL l l-ll:,5!Ab.v., Piint li6il 9.t.,!id.off t.cm h!,ii*.idt..r.oid ron. Ar riqht .photogr,pier .nich.r !io.fl.p, {1r.. poill i,Dd.iir. Fl"pr .r. o^ urF:,*h9,.il.roi' o' tr,.r.

5ly B.by i!1.!tl.po, D.:;9ne,5ritt.ptii.t m.riirg t.pc inp..p.r.lion f.r 3! c..t.1 h..d.,!bbrd p.jit.

Courtesy of Roy Stits

Sky Bobywos constructed ot Riverside,CA over o period of j 3 monihs in19 51 -52, os on experimentql oircroftto cloim the title of the world's smollestoirplone ond no further developmentor reproduction wos plonned.

li is now owed bythe Notionol AirMuseum Divisionof the Smithsonionlnstitute ondis on loon toqnd disployedot the FAAAviotion Museumot Oshkosh,Wisconsin.

Totol flying time wos opproximotelyt hours, with 5 to 15 minute flightsover o period of 6 months ending inOctober 1952.

Spend l0 minutes oround Sky Boby,smollest oirplone in the world, ondinvoriobly you'll heor I O people oskthe some question. "You meon thotthing flies?" Midget rocer pilots, DC-4 test pilots, mechonics ond cosuolpossers-by qsk it with the someomozement. When they see hersitting on the ground, looking os ifsomeone hod cut off her wings ot theelbows, it doesn't seem possible; butfly she does, ond over 200 miles perhour.

Designer Roy Stits qnd Pilot Bob Storrbuilt the tiny wood, fobric ond steeltubing biplone in on old T-hongerocross the streel from the West

Riverside, Colifornio oirport.

Some people questioned whethertheir former "world's smollest," theStits Junior, wos reolly the smollest.Rother thot orgue, Stits, on A & E but

not on engineer,designed SkyBoby.

She meosures Z'2" tip-to-tip, 9'I O" hub-to-flipperond stonds 60"high. the powerplont is q second-hond 85 horse

Continentol, originolly out of onErcoupe. A good overhoul, o nitrotedcrqnkshoft ond the oddition of othird volve spring converted it to ostondord rocing engine. With woterin jection it will develop 1 12 hp ot3,800 rpm, giving Sky Boby o powerlooding comporoble to World Wor llfighters.

Sky Boby weighs 666 pounds fullylooded, including five gollons of gosond 160-pound Bob Storr with o holf-dollor qnd o commerciol ticket in hispocket. Dry weight is 452 pounds.Her 36 7z squore feet of octuol winggive Sky Boby o wing looding ofobout I 9 pounds.

On the mqiden flight ot Polm Springs,Moy 26 '1952, Storr hod to use

everything he hod leorned in 6,000hours of piloting everything frommidgets to Mustongs to get sofelyqirborne with Sky Boby in one piece.

Although she will toke off in obout 600feet, Storr held her on the ground untilhe got to the photogrophers woitingot the intersection for o close-up of thefirst tqke-off. They neorly got o shotof the crosh Storr thinks they wereexpecting becouse o little roughnessin the runwoy olmost skittered SkyBoby out of control.

Rudder trovel is only three inches fromneutrol to full ond the mechonicol toe-brqkes qre extremely sensitives; SkyBoby hos o shorter wheelbose thon oJeep. Anyone who hos iried drivingo Jeep 60 mph over o rough roodwith his feet con reqlize Storr hos hishonds - or rother his feet - full.Once oirborne, while extremelysensitive on the controls, especiollythe oilerons, she feels very much likeon oirplone. However, she needs 5*of flops to keep her from being toil-heovy ot low speeds. As in o Mustongwith full fuseloge tonk, Storr hos touse forword pressure in turns. Above,l40

she trims out very nicely.

Center of grovity is o tough problemin on oirplone designed, like SkyBoby, strictly to be smoll. The pilotmust necessorily sit behind the c/gfor the simple reoson thot o pilot hoslegs.

At full rudder, the pilot's foot is pressedogoinst ihe cowl - within three or fourinches of the propeller. The engine isobove his legs with the oil tonk ondcorburetor between his knees. fhe c/g is iust oft of the engine. Weighing190 pounds, Stits could never iockey

his own broinchild, ond, with only500 pilot hours, he soys he hosn'tenough experience to try it onywoy.Stqrr flies Sky Boby without oporochute to sove thot 30 pounds oftof the center of grovity.

From deod stop, Sky Boby tokesoff ond climbs to '1,000 feet in 35seconds; ot 3,20O rpm stroightqnd level her old BT-1 3oir speedindicotor reods

,l80 with her present

butter poddle test prop. Storr hosbrought her over the runwoy for thephotogrophers ot 2l O ofter o shollowdive. She should do 2OO eosily ot3,800 rpm ond perform still betterwith q speciol prop.

Storr climbs ond mokes his turn ontofinol ot obout 125 indicotes ondfigures to come over the end of therunwoy ot 80. Sky Boby touchesdown ot 55. He doesn't cut the throttleuntil qfter touch down the oirploneis so close-coupled thot oll controlsond most of the wing ore directly in

the prop blost. Sky Boby proboblywould drop like o rock without iheprop blost unless Storr brought her inmuch foster. So for he hosn't used fullflops except for slowing down on therunwqy becouse they might spoil theoirflow over the elevotor.

Quick FitAll these things o shorp pilot conget used to. Despite the limitotionsimposed by the close-coupling fortininess she is o well-engineered

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oirplone. The negotivestogger ond one-piece windshield giveexcellent visibility. Thecockpit orrongement is

comfortoble if spore.Toilored to Stqrr likeo suit of clothes, the20" cockpit givehim elbow roomto operote throttleond woter in jectionbutton simultoneouslywith his left hqndond to operote themechonicollyconnected flops. Nochonging of the stickis required. Spoceond plocement orecorefully plonnedso thqt Storr cqnget full trovel of ollcontrols under ollcircumstonces. SkyBoby boosts shoulderstrops, emergencydoor releqse qnd is

study enough to holdforced londing.

together in o

Stits hos respect for corburelor ice ondSky Boby hos goi only o corburetorheqter but on old Lunkenheimerprimer hooked up to squirt olcoholinto oir intoke below the corburetorfor emergency deicing.

Thqt old primer, the instruments ondthe BT-l 3 tqil wheels ground out forthe brqke drums ore the only stondord

ports on Sky Boby.Otherwise, she is hondbuilt from scrotch.

Stoee ond Stits plon torecover their $2,500out-of-pocket (includ i nghonger rent) ond I 3months' spore timelobor by exhibitingher qt oir shows. Stits

hos o bornstormingbroinstorm for theflying oct. He wontsto sei up two poles 10feet oport with o crossbor l0 feei off theground ond hove Storrfly her through withoutknocking down thepoles - or teoring offthe wings. Storr isn't so

sure thqt stunt is goingin the oct. He thinks q

foot qnd q holf loterolond two feet verticolcleoronce either woyisn't quite enough ot

2l O mph.

Ever since '47, when he helped tobuild o midget rocer, Stits hos hqdthe midget bug. He decided buildingmidgets wos so eosy he would lry forthe smollest in the world ond begonreoding everything he could get hishonds on obout qerodynomics ondtheory of flight. Denying thqt his homestudy quolifies him os on engineer,he will odmit io being o "dorn goodmechon ic".

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AI RCRAFT SPECI FICATIONSST|TS "JUNIOR" - Former "World's Smollest Airplone" - I g4B

WingLength

Spon 8' 10" (end plotes instolled)11',4',

Height 50"

Moximum pilot weight 150 lbs

Net weightPower loodingPowerWing AreoWing Looding

Top speedCruiseLonding speedRote of climb OverFuel

CONSTRUCI'ONFuseloge ond ToilWings

STITS "SKY BABY" -WingLengthHeightNet weightPowerPower loodingWing oreoWing loodingFlopsSlotsTop speedCruiseLonding speedRote of climbFuel

CONSTRUCilONFuselogeWings qnd Toil

393 lbs.6.86 lbs / H.P.

C-85 Continentol35 sq. ft.

15.3 lbs / sq.ft.

Designed ond built by Roy Stits of Bottle Creek, Michigon, for development, reseorchond exhibition.

IZ5 MPHI50 MPH5B MPH8OO FPM

4 lz gols.

Chromoly tubing, fobric coveredSpruce ond plywood, fobric covered

"World's Smallest Airplone" - 1952Spon7'2"g', 10"5',

45216s.C-85 Continentol "rocing" engine6.6 lbs / H.P {@ 100 H.P}36.5 sq. ft.18.3 lbs / sq. ftUpper wingBoth wingsI85 MPHI65 MPH80 MPHOver 500 FPM5 gols.

Chromoly tubing, fobric coveredSpruce, fobric covered

"SKY BABY" wos designed ond built by Roy Stits olin 1952 os o research proiect ond to clqim the titleAirplone."

Riverside, Colifornia,of "World's Smo//est

No b/ueprinfs distributed on either oircroft.

STARR BUMBLE BEE I9BOln

.l955, I moved my fomily to Tempe,

Arizonq, where I mei q mon nqmedOrviile Lloyd. He wos designingond storting to build experimentoliwo-ploce biplone. He cqlled it LibertySport. I helped him build it ond did theflight testing on it. I enioyed workingon thqt proiect withhim. Orville livedMesq, Arizonq, buteventuolly movedto Solt Loke Utoh.I understond thothe built qnotherbi-plone ofterLiberty Sport.

I hod olreodydecided to build o smoller oirplonethon the record holder, Sky Boby.After oll, I wos the co-builder ondthe only one thot ever flew Sky Boby,consequently I knew whqt hqd tobe done to creote o lighter, moredynomic oirfrome.

So, in I980, I begon building theworld's smollest, After numeroustest flights, I flew it for the record in.l984.

lt wos quite o chollenge to fly,but even ot the oge of 60, I still hodthe edge. I nomed it Bumble Bee.Appropriotely so, for noture's bumblebee doesn't hove enough wing oreqto fly, but it hos never been told this,so it proceeds to fly onywoy. At lost,ihe record wqs minel

ln 1986, Len Clements, who is oreporter ond o helicopter pilot for

Chqnnel Ten here in Phoenix, flewdown to Morono, Arizonq, wherewith the help of my son Bob, I hodbeen testing the Bumble Bee. Len

ond his crew shot some iope of meflying the little mochine. l've got lotsof greot footoge on VCR tope of

me flying theBumble Bee.

The originolBumble Beehqd on emptyweight of520 pounds. I

knew I wouldbe oble toimprove on my

first record, so in I 9BB, I built ondsuccessfully flew on even smollerond lighter (only 396 pounds)oirplone nomed the Bumble Beell. lt holds "The World's Smollest"record in the Guinness World Bookof Records.

The Bumble Bee is on permonentdisploy ot the Pimo Air Museum inTucson, Arizono..

At present, I hove over fifteenthousond hours of stick time.Thousonds o[ this wos done cropdusting. lhqve flown everythingfrom the smollest plone to the F-86Sobor Jet.

Life hqs been full ond interesting forme. And mostly, becouse of my love

of flying.

The flighr of ...The Bumble Bees

Designed, built ond flown by Robert H. Storr

At first glonce, most engineers qnd professionol pilots moke ihe stotement,

"l don't believe it con fly." Both Bumble Bees flew well, olthough ihey were

chollenging for Mr. Storr to pilot, they were both oerodynomicolly sound.

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Courtesv of Bob Storr

SPECIFICATIONS:Bumble Bee I

Wing Spon: 6 ft. 6 in.

Length: 9ft.4in.Cruising Speed:

,l50 MPH

Top Speed: I B0 MPH

Stqlling Speed: Z5 KTS

Gross Weight: 256 Obl.Engine: C-85

Fuel Copocity: 3 gol.

Bumble Bee llWing Spon: 5 ft. 6 in.

Length: B ft. lO in.

Cruising Speed: .l50

MPH

Top Speed: .l90

MPH

Stolllng Speed: Z5 KTS

Empry Weighr: 396 Obl.Engine: C-85

Fuel Copocity: 3 gol.

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BABY BIRD 1987

Don Stits of Newbury, CA hqsclqimed the record of the "World'ssmollesi oirplone" with his Boby Bird,o tiny tri-geor, high wing monoplonewith q spon of only 6 feet 3 inches.Weighing ivst 252 pounds, it hosbeen flown 35 times by retired Novycommonder Horold Nemer... whoquolified both in flying experienceqnd in physicol size. The Boby Birdwos designed for o 5 ft.7 in.,l40 pound pilot, whicheliminoted its designerqnd builder, Don Stits, whois both toller ond heovier. Allthe flights hove been stroightdown the Comorillo, CA Airportrunwo, to oltitudes of l5 to 25 feet.Since the qircrqft is intended for noother purpose thon to be "the world'ssmollest". Don sees no need for it tofly more extensively - so it hos nowbeen retired ond will only be on stoticdisploy in the future.

Powered by o 55hp 2-cyclesnowmobile engine, the BobyBird hos o length of I 1 ft. the fuelcopocity is just 1-172 gollons. A longtime EAA member. Don Stits is theson of Roy Stits who once held the"world's smqllest" tiile with his SkyBoby, whlch is on disploy in the EAAMuseum. The record wos broken q

couple of yeors ogo by bob Storr inhis bumblebee -but now the BobyBird holds the title. Don Stits is the

heod of the Aviqtion RequirementsBrqnch qt the Novy's Point Mugusupply Deportment.

Sfits "Baby Bird"(tike Fofher Like son)

Woy bock in 1952, wellknown EAAer, Roy stits

of Riverside, Cqliforniq,proceeded to buildwhot wqs then known

os the "world's SmollestAirplone". This tiny, single-

ploce, negotive stogger biplone,qffectionotely colled "Sky Boby", hodo wingspon of 7 feel, 2 inches qnd

wqs powered with o Contineniol C-

85 engine. lt wqs flown on numerousoccqsions by pilot, Bob Storr, whoreported o top speed of 'l85

mph ondon opprooch speed of 1 I O mphl Thetiny oirplone wos feqtured in ZqckMosley's "Smith Jock" comic strip on

Jonuory 4, 1953 ond qlso mqde thefront cover of FLYING mogozine in

November 1952.

Once Sky Boby hod occomplished its

gool, it wqs donoted to the NqtionolAir qnd spoce Museum which, inturn, ploced the tiny oirplone on longterm loon to the EAA Air AdventureMuseum where it hos been viewedby mony thousonds of visitors.

Now comes the interesting port. RoyStits hqd o son, Donold who grewup with oirplone "stuff" oll over thehouse ond the smell of oirplonedope tintilloting his nostrils. Like hisfother before him, Don liked thingsoeronouticol ond promptly begonstudying the theories of light oircrqftin flight. Often thinking of the tinySky Boby, Don developed his ownideos on how smoll oircroft should beconstructed. The die wos cost.

ln I9BO, the first plons were drownfor "Boby Bird", o tiny (very) single-ploce, high-wing oircroft ihotemployed o tricycle londing geor ondo lighweight Germon-mode Hirthengine of 55hp on the front end of onI I foot fuseloge. Constructed of steeltubing in the fuseloge ond o woodenwing of only 6 feet, 3 inches in totolwingspon, the "Boby Bird" requiredo pilot of smoll stoture to fit in the tinycobin ond remoin inside the weight

Courtesy of Don Stits

envelope. With on empty weight of252 lbs. And o gross of 425 16s.,

only 123 lbs. wos qvoiloble for fuelond pilot.

With the help of his wife, Lori, ondtheir two children, the little tri-geormonoplone begon to toke shope, theone-piece wing with its neorly flot-bottomed oirfoil, corefully instolledobove the tiny cobin. (The wingcobin juncture uses only eight inchesof lifting oreo)

The engine is o twin-cyclinder, oir-cooled, two-stroke thot feotures duolcorburettors ond duol ignition toproduce 55 horsepower. lt swingso ground - odiustoble woodenpropeller of 44 inches in length.

By the summer of 1984, the "BobyBird" wos reody for toxi tests, so it wostronsported to the Comorillo oirporlot Comorillo, Colifornio. (Pleose

remember the Boby Bird con betroilered os is, with no dismontling, osit is 6' 3" wide.) Following extensivetoxi tests by pilot Horold Nemer, oretired Novy pilot of oppropriotestoture, the Boby Bird wos deemedreody for flight. ln August of 1984,Hqrold Nemer took to the oir withthe tiny oirplone ond proceeded todiscover o neot flying little bird (punintended). Top speed wos registeredot I l0 mph ond over the course oftime, some 35 flights were mode bypilot Horold Nemer.

ln 1987, the Boby Bird wos registeredin the Guinness book of world os the"Smollest Airplone in the World". lthos now been donoted to the EAAAviotion foundotion by Don qnd Lori

Stits of Newbury Pork, Coliforniq ondtoken its rightful ploce on the floor ofthe EAA Air Adventure Museum, rightnext to the Sky Boby built by Roy Stits,Don's fother.

As I soid in the beginning, "Likefother, like son!"- Articles contribuled by Roy Stits

Designer / Builder

Construction Crew

Pilot

Aircrqft Nome

Wing Type

Wing Spon

Length

ErpV Weight

Gross Weight

Engine

Top speed

Point Scheme

Boby Bird Dofo Sheef

Don Sttits of Newbury Pork, Colifornio (USA)

Lori Stits, son Roy Stits, ond doughter Jennie Stits.

Horold Nemer of Riverside, Colifornio (USA)

Boby Bird

Monoplone

6 feet 3 inches (25 inches)

I I feet

252 pounds

425 pounds

55 HP Mirth 2 Cylinder

I IO MPH

Miomi Blue with Silver trim

Designed by Lori stits

Flying Scole Model Plones

Obsess With The World's Smollest Plones.To Construction The Scole Model Plones of ThemHoving supports from Mr. Roy Stits ond his son Don Stits, I begon to enlorge3 view drowings of their plones Stits Junior, Sky Boby ond Boby Bird, ond

'construci them into scole models of 1/4. 1/2 ond full sizes for the post seven

yeors qs shown in the phoios below.

| /4 Scole Boby Bird

Full Size Scole Stits Junior with Powerplont sponsored byBreirling.

My Ultimote possion is to build oll the World's Smqllest Plones in Full Sizes

ond fly them; ond perhops to cloim in them os the biggest model plones in

the Guinness Book of Records.

Compliments from Roy ond Don Stits

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f qant to tha,L .,ventures

""0 ,n"""1"* 'r.I.;n;r;""." "" ,"""CoDgratulatioh-

-Bulrdins *;;,"""

v:ur very successfur lrodel

"krlr*,-, -"."". you are

;'::- ""0 enrhu. ra6o ,o ,1" ou'"tnt on ,ou,

."":'i.',": to be rravinJ a ;:.":;';"'",'j:1.",_' r0ur

All rights reserved. No port of this orticle moy be reproduced including photocopying, recordingwithout lhe prior consent of the writers.

Pleose fox/phone (65) 6386 7568 or emoil: leo.yewchiot@yohoo.com for further informotion.

| /2 Scale Boby Bird, Sky Boby & Sfits Junior

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ISBN: 978-98I -08-0043-Z

Viva Creative Lithographers . Tel:6273 8032 . Fax:6273 0385 ' Email: vivircrc(r(l;rl,r {!nIil