What is the world's smallest plane? Here's the story of how aviation designers pushed the boundaries into absurdity.
The concept of building the smallest airplane possible has been about for generations. It turns out that Flite Test isn't the only group of aviation enthusiasts to build some frankly ridiculous contraptions - people have been coming up with slightly sketchy aircraft designs for years. This article looks at some of these manned airplanes and how they came to be.
During the late 1940s, American aviation company Beecraft designed the then smallest airplane in the world. It was made entirely of metal, just like the modern planes of the day, but had a wingspan of just 5.49 meters (18ft).
Due to the tiny dimensions of this aircraft, the pilot, quite extraordinarily, had to lie down in a prone position on top of the fuselage! Talk about a wild ride. The airplane had a 30-hp piston engine and weighed just 95kg. Despite this, it could still carry 90kg in the form of its pilot. 
A plane with the frankly unbelievable wingspan of just 2.1 meters was first unvailed in the early 1950s. Built with the specific goal in mind of beating the previously set record, the Sky Baby was built by Robert Starr and Ray Stits.
Some notable features of this plane include it's pilot requirements. The little biplane needed someone at the controls who weighed 77kg to ensure that the centre of gravity was kept in the right place. 125mph was the eyewatering speed that the aircraft had to approach the runway for fear of stalling out of the sky like a brick. Upon landing, though, it could bleed off airspeed to a more manageable 55mph.
Built by Robert Starr, the Bumble Bee was designed to take the record from the sky baby. The project began in 1979. After five years work on the Bumble Bee, the tiny 2-meter wingspan aircraft was ready for flight.
The Bumble Bee took flight on January 28, 1984 at Marana, Arizona and claimed the Guinness Book of World Records tittle as the smallest aircraft ever to be flown. This record stood less than a year, however, as in August 1984 an even smaller aircraft was flown.
Ray Stits' son, Donald Stits, decided to build another Stits airplane to reclaim the title of the World's Smallest Airplane. Unlike some of the previous attempts, the plane he came up with was a high wing monoplane. It had a tubular fuselage construction whilst the wing was made from wood. The aircraft proved rather successful to say the least with thirty-four flights being completed before the experimental aircraft was retired and donated to a museum.
This plane had a wingspan of just 1.9-meters. and was powered by an 85hp engine. Unfortunately, the plane crashed on its maiden flight but thankfully the pilot Starr made a full recovery. The plane weighed 260kg with the pilot and could fly at a maximum speed of 190mph. This record has not yet been beaten, but who knows, what with the improvements in available materials and design techniques since the 1980s, we may again one day see an attempt to break the record for the world's smallest plane. You won't find me at the controls though!
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Links to Further Reading
Top 5 Wackiest Early Flying Machines
Article by James Whomsley
Editor of FliteTest.com
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