212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
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jakeandelwood
- Rank 6
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Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
Looks like fun! There is an unstarted BD-5 kit near me for sale, small and fast, but not a project I have time for
Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
I like fast, but not when it has a 50% chance of killing mejakeandelwood wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 11:33 am Looks like fun! There is an unstarted BD-5 kit near me for sale, small and fast, but not a project I have time for
Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
Blah, blah, blah.
The aviation runway is full of racy, cool lookin', theoretical wizardry wreckage. So ya got a composite lightning bolt. Who gives a shit.
Of course, no mention of a business plan or market expectations(reality). If this glass fiber rocket actually makes it to a sustainable production status, it'll easily be over 200 grand USD, and thanks to being European, north of 300 g
The world is SO full of people with that kind of chump change. In reality, the few buyers with deep pockets will consider other options for the same dollars and whatever European speed induced euphoria currently being hyped, will fade to obscurity in a building known as a museum.
Maybe as a publicity stunt, they could sell a copy to some wealthy sports star, and get him to hot dog it right into a large body of water. Read about that company and how well it's "latest, greatest" technology is doing to a business plan.
I know.....it's Monday. We're all bored sitting around in lockdown. So let's dredge nothing up, and post on AvCanada.
The aviation runway is full of racy, cool lookin', theoretical wizardry wreckage. So ya got a composite lightning bolt. Who gives a shit.
Of course, no mention of a business plan or market expectations(reality). If this glass fiber rocket actually makes it to a sustainable production status, it'll easily be over 200 grand USD, and thanks to being European, north of 300 g
The world is SO full of people with that kind of chump change. In reality, the few buyers with deep pockets will consider other options for the same dollars and whatever European speed induced euphoria currently being hyped, will fade to obscurity in a building known as a museum.
Maybe as a publicity stunt, they could sell a copy to some wealthy sports star, and get him to hot dog it right into a large body of water. Read about that company and how well it's "latest, greatest" technology is doing to a business plan.
I know.....it's Monday. We're all bored sitting around in lockdown. So let's dredge nothing up, and post on AvCanada.
Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
Just be better than 50% of your peers.
Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
I bought a BD5 kit when I was 16. I never finished it. I have seen a lot of designs (homebuilt and certified). The BD5 is by far the most complex, difficult to built kit that I've seen. The engineering put into it is brilliant though. Newer airfoils (GAW, cuffed LE) have much better safety record than the original wings, especially the 14' A wing.jakeandelwood wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 11:33 am Looks like fun! There is an unstarted BD-5 kit near me for sale, small and fast, but not a project I have time for
Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
I too had a BD5 fiasco kit.
Fuselage hull, "B" wings (skinned, with only a couple of rivets. Waiting for the pre-close inspection that'll never happen), tail feathers, couple of wheels, center spar, an' one large crate full of parts. That crate was long. If I had painted it black, it could have passed as Paul Bunyans coffin.
Never could figure out why the EAA allowed Jim Bede anywhere near their property. Or how this guy managed to con people into buying his crap. Probably stars-in-their-eyes syndrome. I had it. Fantasyland.
Chris Heinz (Zenith/Zenair) once said an engineer could dream up all kinds of fantastic out-of-this-world theoretical designs. But they would never fly. No one could afford it. No one had the expertise to build it. No one had the skill to fly it. No one could afford to maintain it. Successful designs are those that have hundreds of copies in active, safe operation. Successful companies produce well designed, complete engineered products. Think Van's Aircraft or Zenair. Jim Bede designed eye candy, sold incomplete plans, never completed engineering on the BD5, and when the going got tough, collapsed the business, leaving hundreds of partial kit owners in the lurch. With the exception of the BD4, most designs were a disaster. BD-10 anyone?
On my BD5 Fiasco, I was the 3rd owner. I had complete documentation since day 1 with this airframe. I cannot describe the sense of frustration and despair I interpreted from the first builders numerous correspondence exchanges with Bede Aircraft. Inquiries about missing parts, missing plans and when they would be shipped. The BD5 kits were sold incomplete. Promises were made to deliver the goods at a later date. This never happened. Plans were shipped minus 2 critical chapters. Specifically, the retractable nose gear and a rather critical part, the engine. Bede never did come up with a suitable engine. James Bond did.....a jet engine for the movie "Octopussy".
I sold my dust collector two or three years later. We used to sit around it and flick beer bottle caps into the cockpit area. As our accuracy improved, the range was extended. When I sold it, I cleaned all the caps out. Didn't want the new owner to get any ideas. BD5 Fiasco kits probably have more miles on 'em than some trucking outfits. From one buyer to another, year after year. Each transaction, the price goes down. Eventually, someone will recognize it for what it really is......scrap aluminum. Melt it down and make a few bucks on it?
I don't think Jim Bede was "brilliant". I think he was a cheap salesman selling unicorns and pixie dust. "Brilliant" engineers create workable and sustainable designs.
Not something you flick beer caps into.....
Fuselage hull, "B" wings (skinned, with only a couple of rivets. Waiting for the pre-close inspection that'll never happen), tail feathers, couple of wheels, center spar, an' one large crate full of parts. That crate was long. If I had painted it black, it could have passed as Paul Bunyans coffin.
Never could figure out why the EAA allowed Jim Bede anywhere near their property. Or how this guy managed to con people into buying his crap. Probably stars-in-their-eyes syndrome. I had it. Fantasyland.
Chris Heinz (Zenith/Zenair) once said an engineer could dream up all kinds of fantastic out-of-this-world theoretical designs. But they would never fly. No one could afford it. No one had the expertise to build it. No one had the skill to fly it. No one could afford to maintain it. Successful designs are those that have hundreds of copies in active, safe operation. Successful companies produce well designed, complete engineered products. Think Van's Aircraft or Zenair. Jim Bede designed eye candy, sold incomplete plans, never completed engineering on the BD5, and when the going got tough, collapsed the business, leaving hundreds of partial kit owners in the lurch. With the exception of the BD4, most designs were a disaster. BD-10 anyone?
On my BD5 Fiasco, I was the 3rd owner. I had complete documentation since day 1 with this airframe. I cannot describe the sense of frustration and despair I interpreted from the first builders numerous correspondence exchanges with Bede Aircraft. Inquiries about missing parts, missing plans and when they would be shipped. The BD5 kits were sold incomplete. Promises were made to deliver the goods at a later date. This never happened. Plans were shipped minus 2 critical chapters. Specifically, the retractable nose gear and a rather critical part, the engine. Bede never did come up with a suitable engine. James Bond did.....a jet engine for the movie "Octopussy".
I sold my dust collector two or three years later. We used to sit around it and flick beer bottle caps into the cockpit area. As our accuracy improved, the range was extended. When I sold it, I cleaned all the caps out. Didn't want the new owner to get any ideas. BD5 Fiasco kits probably have more miles on 'em than some trucking outfits. From one buyer to another, year after year. Each transaction, the price goes down. Eventually, someone will recognize it for what it really is......scrap aluminum. Melt it down and make a few bucks on it?
I don't think Jim Bede was "brilliant". I think he was a cheap salesman selling unicorns and pixie dust. "Brilliant" engineers create workable and sustainable designs.
Not something you flick beer caps into.....
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BE20 Driver
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Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
I can't be the only person to have clicked on that link expecting a canvas and tube ultralight.
Beautiful looking machine. Too bad it'll cost a fortune.
Beautiful looking machine. Too bad it'll cost a fortune.
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co-joe
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- Location: YYC 230 degree radial at about 10 DME
Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
Best quote from the article:
“We had a Glasair III as a chase plane with 340 horsepower. It needed full throttle to keep up!”
Re: 212 knot ultralight with Rotax!
Best comment on the article is from Klaus Savier...
