The Wimpy was designed and constructed in 1935 by Leslie Long at Cornelius, OR., USA. It had a welded-steel fuselage, tail feathers, and landing gear, and a wooden wing. It used external wire bracing, like the Fly Baby, except the flying wires attached to a bit of structure behind the tires rather than through the wheel hub.

Myron Buswell acquired the airplane in 1938 and made several modifications. The airplane left Oregon in 1957 when it was purchased by Roy Olson of San Diego, CA. Mr. Olson donated the airplane to OAHS in November 2005. Following acquisition of the original plans, OAHS Director Bill Austin began wing restoration for display.

An Oregon man named Tom Story, who built one just before World War II.

After the war, Story’s airplane was bought by another Oregon man named George Bogardus. Prior to the war, reaction against homebuilt aircraft had caused them to be banned in every state except Oregon. Bogardus wanted the CAA to implement a new certification category that would overrule the state limitations.

Bogardus modified the Story Wimpy, calling it Little Gee Bee. He successfully flew across the country several times, and his efforts helped lead to the introduction of the Experimental/Amateur-Built category.

In the 1930s, Les Long designed a couple of homebuilts. The Longster was one. Long even performed a trade study with the Longster. It started out as a mid-wing aircraft, but Long did some experimentation with wing position. He tried a parasol wing, and a low-wing configuration. He decided the low wing was best.