Bede Designs

[elider]

At least this one has a name,but nothing more. Anyone have any info on this/

 

[CammNut]

It's the Bede BD-10 - one of the world's worst aeroplanes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede_BD-10

 

[Mark Nankivil]

CammNut -

Why do you say one of the world's worst airplanes?

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Berekhat]

I have an old magazine, Flight probably, that mentions this aircraft in glowing terms, and Jim Bede as a messiah! But the following sentences from the linked wiki should give one pause:
"The aircraft was fairly conventional in construction terms, using aluminum sheeting"
"dry weight was only 725 kg, about the same as light aircraft like the Cessna 172"
"at full power would reach Mach 1.4"
"Five examples were built in total, three crashed. Only two examples remain, both unflyable."

This gave me a smile this morning, thanks. It hardly needs be stated that designing any aircraft is a tough job, let alone a supersonic one designed to be built in a backyard shed, and I'm more than a little glad I don't have to worry about having one disintegrate over my like one of the prototypes.

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Mach 1.4 is a stretch with the basic design - it was more like .95 and the prototypes were in the .80 to .85 range due to being overweight. I saw the prototype a number of times when Bede was based here in St. Louis and the original design was conventional and quite straightforward in design - nothing really out of the ordinary. Two of the crashes occurred with the two companies that bought the design - Fox (?) and Peregrine Flight International which built a few of their own called the PJ-2. One crashed due to a flap failure on approach and the other a rudder structure failure. The other crash was a kit built aircraft direct from Bede - I'm not sure the FAA report ever concluded exactly what happened.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Greetings All -

I was digging thru my archives (or as my wife would put it, "my stash") and uncovered a brochure I acquired from Bede Aircraft when they were based out at Spirit of St. Louis airport. This was about the time the BD-10 development was transitioning into being sold to others and Jim Bede was developing the BD-12 and the BD-14, both being variants of the BD-5 idea but set up for two or four place seating. I actually had the opportunity to photograph the BD-12 while it was under construction and will post those pics when I run them thru PhotoShop. The BD-12 flew but was damaged either on the first or second flight and as far as I know, was never repaired prior to the shop closing its doors. The BD-14 never made it passed the wood desk model stage.

Anyways, here's the info and drawings that were part of the sales brochure.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Caravellarella]

Dear Boys and Girls, here is an feature in French on the Bede BD-3 light aircraft and BD-7 regional airliner which both feature a tail-mounted ducted-propellor. They are both "projects", but they aren't "secret"......

The feature comes from the 15th July 1963 issue of Aviation Magazine......

Terry (Caravellarella)

 

[hesham]

From L+K magazine;


the Bede BD-5 early design with V-tail.

 

[djfawcett]

Actually, the BD-12 really never had a controlled flight. On the first attempt at flight, a minimal stability margin induced PIO resulted.
After 3 occiliations the aircraft impacted the runway. The gear were cleaned off, the prop and drive assembly broke, and the full flying stab
became disconnected from the flight controls. There was significant airframe damage. The prototype was never repaired. The doors
were ultimately closed and Bede started the BD-17.

 

[Jos Heyman]

From L+K magazine;


the Bede BD-5 early design with V-tail.

In fact it is the BD-5B design, with a butterfly tail and not what I would label an 'early design'.

 

[djfawcett]

Actually, "Hesham" is correct. The V-tail was the original prototype. It had marginal stability at best. As a result, the aircraft was
redesigned with a conventional tail.

The BD-5b was the "a model" with a long wing.

Dave

 

[hesham]

Thank you Dave.

 

[Jos Heyman]

I humbly apologise. Thanks.

 

[Wahubna]

I used to work at WACO Classic and I can promise there is 0 now and always was 0 and always will be 0 connection between something like this and WACO Classic...In short, someone attached that name to it in an illegitimate fashion...

 

[Stargazer]

I used to work at WACO Classic and I can promise there is 0 now and always was 0 and always will be 0 connection between something like this and WACO Classic...In short, someone attached that name to it in an illegitimate fashion...

I believe this was in fact much ado about nothing. The photo is from an encyclopedia. The top caption indicates that this very page describes aircraft from "Vortex" to "WACO Classic". Period.

 

[walter]

Jim Bede was a busy man. Here are some photos of other designs.

 

[walter]

And a photo of the prototype with V-tail.

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.3

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.1 3view (Source: L+K)

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.7

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D. 14 (Source: Net)

 

[Stargazer]

Thanks a lot for the BD-14. This one's new to me.

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.6 and B.D.7 (Source: Net)

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.8 (L+K)

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.10 (L+K)

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.12 (Source: Net)

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.17 and B.D.18 (Source: Net)

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.4

 

[Maveric]

Bede BD-2 LOVE One

 

[Maveric]

Bede XBD-2

 

[Maveric]

Bede B.D.5A 3view

 

[Stargazer]

More of the BD-1:

 

[Stargazer]

A nice summary (albeit rather incomplete):

 

[hesham]

Jim Bede was a busy man. Here are some photos of other designs.

Hi Walter,


the Bede Wing was also called BD-9 Super Demoiselle.

 

[Stargazer]

the Bede Wing was also called BD-9 Super Demoiselle.

No need to reattach the exact same image. It adds unnecessary duplicate files on the server.

You can just copy the link to the thumbnail or the image and add it in the text here using the "Insert image" icon, like this:

Also I believe you are wrong. walter has posted both the Bede Wing AND Super Demoiselle (above) and it's obvious that they were two entirely different designs.

 

[hesham]

Thank you my dear Skyblazer for your explanation,


the BD-11 was a six-seat light aircraft project,derivative of DB-10,but powered
by one turbofan engine.

 

[djfawcett]

Hello, Actually, the BD-9 was Jim Bede's first effort in designing a ultra-light. He was contracted by a development group to do so. It was a high wing design that looked very much like a Part 23 aircraft. As to whatever happened with the program, I have no idea.
Best Regards
Dave

 

[walter]

The Bede story continues.
The company (Bedecorp, LLC) is still very active and planning to show the prototype BD-22 (2-seat development of the BD-17 registered N224BD) at this year`s (2015) Sun`n-fun
The BD-18 is somewhat of a headache for me. The design is still being offered by Bedecorp, LLC, but I wonder whether a prototype was actually built/flown. A photo shows the BD-18 under constrcution. There is an aircraft (N813BD) on the FAA register called BD-18-217 and flown around May 2009. but I wonder what the connection is.
The BD-9 is not the Demoiselle (N590A), but was an entirely other design (see photo). If I remember well, plans were to market the aircraft by a company named NAC (National Aircraft Corporation?) under the name Dream. As Dave already remarked, the BD-9 was Bede`s first ultralight-class design. I have no idea whether a prototype was actually built.
The thing called the Wing reportedly had an inflatable wing and was apparently still in existence in 2009. I have absolutely no further information.
For the The Demoiselle (N590AS) I found the out-of-sequence HB-1 designation. The aircraft first flew in July 1966 (before the ultra-light era) and had a Continental A65 engine. Reportedly this aircraft was later briefly tested with an enclosed cabin (as the Super Demoiselle), the planned production model, but development was soon halteds.

 

[walter]

For a photo of the BD-22 prototype N224BD (First flight March 2015), Google Bedecorp BD-22
Sorry, but cannot upload my photo :-[

 

[Stargazer]

For a photo of the BD-22 prototype N224BD (First flight March 2015), Google Bedecorp BD-22
Sorry, but cannot upload my photo :-[

There will likely be very few photos of the BD-22 as the aircraft [N224BD] crashed fatally on April 1.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/local-news/st-lucie-county/plane-crash-reported-in-northern-st-lucie-county_33237742

FAA Registry for the aircraft: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N224BD

Forum page (called BD-22L): http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/aircraft-design-aerodynamics-new-technology/21406-bede-bd-22l-light-sport.html