Bede BD-10

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BD-10
The Bede BD-10 in its Peregrine Falcon guise, c. 2005
Type	Recreational aircraft
Manufacturer	Bede Jet Corporation Fox 10 Corporation Peregrine Flight International Monitor Jet
Designed by	Jim Bede
Maiden flight	July 1992
Status	Experimental
Number built	5
Developed from	BD-5 BD-7

The Bede BD-10 was Jim Bede's attempt to introduce the world's first kit-built jet-powered general aviation aircraft.^[1] After several years of testing and modifications, the project was taken over by investors in order to produce fully completed civilian and military training aircraft, but these projects were unrealized. Five examples were built in total, three crashed. Only two examples remain, both unflyable.

Contents 1 Design and development 1.1 Prototypes 2 Continued development 3 Examples 4 Specifications (BD-10J) 5 References 6 External links 7 See also

[edit] Design and development

The genesis of the BD-10 came about after the Bede BD-5 project in the 1970s, when the FTC entered Jim Bede into a consent decree, forbidding him from accepting down payments for aircraft for a period of ten years. Bede worked on numerous other projects during this period with preliminary design begun by 1983 on a small jet^[2], and within weeks of the agreement expiring in 1989, he announced plans for the BD-10J^[2] under the aegis of Bede Jet Corporation, at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport.

The BD-5's failure was due largely to the unavailability of a suitable engine; during the BD-5s history one engine company after another either exited the engine business or went bankrupt. Bede started the new design by selecting a suitable commonly available engine and then designing the aircraft around it. The selected engine was the General Electric J85, widely used in a variety of military aircraft and available both in new-build and second-hand markets. Perhaps the best known application of the J85 are the twin-engined T-38 Talon and the closely related F-5 Freedom Fighter; the new BD-10J design bore a strong resemblance to both, although it was much smaller and used only a single engine. The Williams FJ44 and Pratt & Whitney JT12 were also offered as options.

The resulting design featured a shoulder-mounted cropped-delta wing with just over 21 feet (6.4 m) of span and a leading-edge sweep of about 30 degrees. Cropped-delta elevators were also used, although featuring a much greater 50 degree leading sweep. The large canopy extended a fair distance above the fuselage midline, in relative terms, so twin rudders were used on either side to provide clean airflow. All of the controls were strictly mechanical using pushrods. In order to deal with the increasing control stiffness with increased speed, two control sticks were to be used, a small side-stick with limited leverage for low speeds, and a full-sized one mounted in front of the seat with much more leverage for high speeds.

The aircraft was fairly conventional in construction terms, using aluminum sheeting for the majority of the airframe, and fiberglass for certain parts and fillets. The dry weight was only 1,600 lb (725 kg), about the same as light aircraft like the Cessna 172. Given the engine's nominal 3,000 lbf (13 kN) thrust at sea level, the design was significantly overpowered, generally considered a major advantage for any aircraft. Performance estimates were extremely exciting; after a takeoff roll of only 850 ft (260 m) even at a fully-fueled weight of 4,400 lb (2,000 kg), the aircraft would climb at 20,000 ft/min to a cruising altitude of 45,000 ft (14,000 m). At this altitude it would cruise at Mach 0.9 (520 ktas, 595 mph) and at full power would reach Mach 1.4. The high-altitude cruise allowed flights up to 2,000 miles (3,200 km).

[edit] Prototypes

The first prototype, N2BD, was completed in 1991^[2] and started testing at Mojave in July 1992.^[3] Early in testing it suffered minor damage when the gear failed on landing, but the damage was repaired and it returned to flying. However, this aircraft was significantly heavier than originally intended, the empty weight ballooning from the design 1,600 to the prototype's 2,250 lb (1,020 kg). In order to keep the weight and balance within limits, fuel capacity had to be cut dramatically to 263 gallons, reducing range from the original 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to 1,500, although it was never to demonstrate anything beyond about 500 miles (800 km). Speed was equally poor; even at full thrust the plane was barely able to reach the transonic, at Mach 0.83.

In 1994 N2BD was flown to the Reno Air Races to drum up business. During this flight the skinning on the vertical stabilizers demonstrated some wrinkling, indicating excessive flex. The problem was considered minor, and a stronger tail design was added. Aviation Week and Space Technology published a positive report on the aircraft in its June 1994 edition,^[4] although they noted some horizontal "snaking", not uncommon on an aircraft that is longer than it is wide. By the time Omni Magazine reported on it in their March 1995 issue,^[1] the weight was given as 2,410 lb (1,090 kg), although it is not clear if this represents a real change in weight, or alternately changes in the secondary equipment.

On 27 August 1994 the prototype was on a demonstration flight from the factory when the canopy started to open during the takeoff roll. The pilot aborted the takeoff past V_r, and overran the end of the runway while braking. It was later learned that the "canopy open" indicator light could be triggered (turning off) even if the locking lugs were not in place, requiring a minor redesign to prevent this from recurring.^[5]

Eventually 63 $10,000 deposits (45 in the United States^[6]) were placed for the kits. By 1994 three additional airframes were under construction, one by Mike Van Wagenen of Nevada, another by Jim Priebe in Ohio, and the last by Frank Everett in California. However, during this period Chief Test Pilot Skip Holm left the project. Work on the BD-10J project by Bede seems to have stopped at about this point.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Continued development

Van Wagenen had already formed Fox 10 Corporation (or Fox Aircraft, it is unclear) with the intention of helping kit builders complete their aircraft, by providing hangar space, tools, and guidance. The FAA later ruled this was illegal, although not before Van Wagenen had moved on from this concept, rendering the point moot. In December 1993 Van Wagenen took over the entire BD-10 project, intending to produce completed versions of the design under the name Fox-10.

Fox's first prototype, N9WZ, was completed in 1994 and entered testing. Although it had been modified to incorporate the stronger tail of Bede's design, it broke up mid-air on 30 December 1994 when the vertical stabilizers failed due to an apparent crossflow condition, killing Van Wagenen. The NTSB later concluded that Bede's fix was under-designed, and offered nowhere near the strength that had been calculated.^[7] However, there was no evidence that Fox had performed any testing to verify the redesign of the vertical stabilizer spars before continuing flight testing.

The design then passed to another company set up at the Minden-Tahoe Airport to produce the aircraft (or perhaps a continuance of the original), Peregrine Flight International, renaming the design the PJ-2. They redesigned the horizontal surfaces for another prototype, N62PJ. This aircraft crashed on 4 August 1995 when one flap failed to deploy.^[8] The resulting accident killed the company president, Joseph Henderson, and Peregrine ceased to exist.

In 1996 Bede sold the military rights to Monitor Jet of Canada, who intended to equip it with the Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D engine and sell it as a basic trainer as the MJ-7. Monitor also purchased the single so-far completed kit, N700JP, its pilot apparently not interested in flying it. There appears to have been some interest on the part of the Portuguese Air Force as a replacement for their fleet of Alpha Jets in the training role,^[9] but nothing ever came of this. The aircraft was even mentioned briefly during the Canadian Parliamentary Debates.^[10]

When a group of investors in Bede's company threatened to foreclose, Bede declared bankruptcy in 1997. The investors formed Vortex Aircraft in San Diego intended to produce completed versions as the PhoenixJet for the military market, terminating Monitor's agreement due to a claimed failed payment.^[11] Oddly, Monitor purchased the original prototype, N2BD, at the same auction, although for reasons that are unclear it appears it was never moved. Neither company managed to find any interest in the design, and both companies disappeared, the lawsuit being dropped in 1998.

This left only the second kit-built aircraft, N7FF, still flying. It broke up in mid-air off the southern coast of California in 2003 after the pilot had radioed a MAYDAY call in which he stated that the aircraft "was disintegrating".^[12]

The original N2BD prototype was hangared in Scottsdale, Arizona when the company went bankrupt, and now belongs to Fuel Fresh Inc., who operate a number of jet aircraft. Monitor Jet's example remained in Canada, and eventually ended up in the Toronto Aerospace Museum, along with their JT-15D engine. It has recently been sold to an aviation enthusiast, David Carlaw.^[13]

[edit] Examples

• N2BD: original prototype, owned by Fuel Fresh in Nevada, tail number reassigned to a Dassault Falcon 900, unflyable
• N9WZ: Peregrine's kit, crashed
• N62PJ: Peregrine's kit, crashed
• N700JP: Jim Priebe's kit, sold to Monitor Jet, now privately owned in Canada, unflyable
• N7FF: Frank Everett's kit, crashed

[edit] Specifications (BD-10J)

Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-Planes and Experimental Aircraft.^[2] General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Length: 28 ft 10 in (6.53 m)
• Wingspan: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
• Height: 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m)
• Wing area: 98 ft² (9.1 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,600 lb (725 kg)
• Gross weight: 4,430 lb (2014 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × General Electric CJ-610, 2,950 lbf (13.12 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 1.4 (actually only reached Mach 0.83, see above)
• Cruise speed: 593 mph (957 km/h)
• Range: 1,550 miles (2,499 km)
• Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (13,715 m)
• Rate of climb: 30,000 ft/min (9.150 m/s)

[edit] References

Notes

Bibliography

[edit] External links

• BD-10: short article on the BedeCorp home page
• BD-5 Web Site: some material regarding the BD-10, including promotional movies
• BD-10: excellent image of the prototype in flight
• Monitor Jet's N700JP as seen in the Toronto Aerospace Museum, with the wings and avionics removed
• Aircraft Flutter Analysis: an article on flutter analysis using the BD-10 as its model

[edit] See also

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