A baby of a fly-in

By MIKE TAYLOR

The first annual Kokomo Bi-Plane Fly-In was held June 26-27, 2020, at Glenndale Airport in Kokomo, Indiana.

The airport ID is 8i3, with a lower case “i” for two good reasons. First, so as to not confuse it with the numeral one, but also to highlight the diminutive aspect of the aircraft featured at the fly-in: The Baby Great Lakes.

Hosted by Michelle and Ron Beachy, the Kokomo fly-in was held at their home-base airport. Both are members of the Baby Great Lakes Biplane Group, flying their own Baby Great Lakes, a scaled version of its Great Lakes namesake.

The 2T-1A Sport Trainer was a biplane produced in the early years of the Great Depression era, manufactured by the Great Lakes Aircraft Company from 1929-1933. About 240 of the Great Lakes Sport Trainers were built.

Origins of the Baby Lakes are attributed to the Barney Oldfield Aircraft Company, named for designer Barney Oldfield. Best summarized as “a scaled-down Sport Trainer,” the airplane uses steel frame tubing and spruce wing spars. It was intended as a one-off construction. Due to the popularity of the model, however, plans were produced on demand and this led to marketing the homebuilt aircraft. Copies began to multiply.

The scaled version has been known by many names, including Baby Lakes, Oldfield Baby Lakes, Baby Great Lakes, Super Baby Lakes, Super Baby Great Lakes, and Buddy Baby Lakes. There exist a small collection of these babies in the U.S. and a tight group of enthusiasts who share their knowledge of them.

Chris Hiatt of San Antonio, Texas, was one of the fly-in’s enthusiastic participants. He traded in a passion for Aeroncas, at least temporarily, for a chance to hone his skills at biplane aeronautics. Chris was flying an Aeronca Chief at the time the Baby Lakes came along. The new arrival fit neatly into the hangar beneath the Chief. As more of his time and focus centered on the more diminutive aircraft, the Chief got sold. The Baby Lakes served to amp up his quest for adrenaline.

Once Chris learned about the fly-in, he was set on tweaking and updating his airplane, N822CH. Every last minute was spent readying the aircraft to be trailered 1,200 miles northeast to Kokomo, a feat presumed far less tiring than traveling in a bumpy open-air cockpit solo and luggageless.

Prior to attending, N822CH received new cowlings and had its wings recovered. Chris has also managed to install a starter and new bungies while giving the Baby a thorough pampering. 

While designed for the Continental A-65 and Volkswagen air-cooled aero boxer engines, Chris’s build performs like a rocket with its upgraded Lycoming O-290G 145-hp launcher. It easily proved to be the fastest of the current crop of Baby Great Lakes, claiming a world speed record in June at the fly-in: “130 mph in cruise in a Super Baby Great Lakes.”

Chris admits that it wasn’t a real competition and therefore “top speed” was not determined. He was just so far out in front of the others, he surmised, that it must be a record.

“Another record was set on Friday the 26th of June 2020… the largest gathering of our beloved tiny Baby Great Lakes biplane,” Chris added.

Months of planning drew Ron and Michelle Beachy and their Baby Great Lakes, plus Chris with his Super Baby Great Lakes, and Shad Bell of Centerburg, Ohio, who dodged storms to attend in his Baby Great Lakes. Final attendee of the record-setting foursome was Corben Meyer, who flew in from Timber House Airport near Lafayette, Indiana, a brief 40 miles west with his 65- hp Baby Lakes.

“Each of the planes are unique in several different ways,” Chris noted.