BD 4/6
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crazy_aviator
- Rank 8
- Posts: 917
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 10:13 am
Re: BD 4/6
Would you be interested in a Zenith CH250 project ? 70% completed
Re: BD 4/6
I own a BD-4 and have a complete set of plans. I think BD still sells the plans.
The BD-4 is not stressed skin, it is angle aluminium with skins glued on. A lot of people are impressed with the flush riveting job until I explain that there are no rivets, then they tend to look at me funny. The advantage to this is simplicity leading to very short build times for the airframe.
As for 4 seats, I have three seat belts installed in mine, the rear is just a plywood cargo area with a fold out kids seat. I have fit a 150 lb girl in there but it was for a quick flight, not very comfortable. On the original BD-4 the rear seats were hammock seats for kids, not suitable for adults. A lot of people are stretching the BD-4 and putting a 200+ hp engines up front. The stretch versions fit 4 short adults quite handily. If you are over 5'6" then you will need change the design in order to fit. Steve Craigle has managed to fit a 6'2" person in the back of his but he's put a lot of effort into seating.
The composite wing doesn't require you to work with composites much as all you are doing is bonding the wing sections together. They tend to leak fuel though. Current ones being build are with metal wings. If you find an old kit with the fiberglass wings budget an extra 5k USD, throw the wing sections away and buy a new metal wing.
If you are on the West Coast drop me a line.
The BD-4 is not stressed skin, it is angle aluminium with skins glued on. A lot of people are impressed with the flush riveting job until I explain that there are no rivets, then they tend to look at me funny. The advantage to this is simplicity leading to very short build times for the airframe.
As for 4 seats, I have three seat belts installed in mine, the rear is just a plywood cargo area with a fold out kids seat. I have fit a 150 lb girl in there but it was for a quick flight, not very comfortable. On the original BD-4 the rear seats were hammock seats for kids, not suitable for adults. A lot of people are stretching the BD-4 and putting a 200+ hp engines up front. The stretch versions fit 4 short adults quite handily. If you are over 5'6" then you will need change the design in order to fit. Steve Craigle has managed to fit a 6'2" person in the back of his but he's put a lot of effort into seating.
The composite wing doesn't require you to work with composites much as all you are doing is bonding the wing sections together. They tend to leak fuel though. Current ones being build are with metal wings. If you find an old kit with the fiberglass wings budget an extra 5k USD, throw the wing sections away and buy a new metal wing.
If you are on the West Coast drop me a line.
Re: BD 4/6
No other spar option but you could invent your own. The BD-4 is totally unsuitable for float operations as it has minimal high lift devices and a high speed wing. You could design yourself a new wing with your new spar though I guess. You could rivet the skins on as well but it would be ugly and slow as hell. In my experience sticking to aircraft engines in aircraft works out well.
