While the new Hirth engine was being tested, Bede decided to create an unconventional variant of the BD-5 with a small jet engine. The result was the sleek BD-5J, a 300 mph (480 km/h) aircraft. The design used the Sermel TRS-18-046 turbojet (now Microturbo, a division of Turbomeca), which produced 225 lbs of thrust and was used on a Caproni certified motorglider design. The original engines were produced under license by Ames Industrial in the USA. The wing was modified to an "intermediate" size between the original A and B wings, with a 17 ft span.
Bob Bishop had purchased 20 BD-5J kits as soon as they had appeared, and many of the flying examples started life in this batch of twenty. Versions from the original batch became a popular airshow fixture. Throughout the 1980s and until 1991, Coors flew two of them as the "Silver Bullets." Budweiser also had a BD-5J called the "Bud Light Jet", but that contract has long expired and the aircraft was lost as a result of an engine compartment fire from which Bob Bishop successfully bailed out. The aircraft also appeared in the opening sequence of the James Bond film, Octopussy.
Many of these aircraft have since been involved in crashes. The loss of the Bud Light Jet was caused by an incorrectly specified fuel flow sending unit which burst in mid-flight and caused fuel to be sprayed directly into the engine compartment. The fuel ignited when it came in contact with the hot components of the turbojet engine, forcing the pilot to trade speed for altitude, climb and bail out. The aircraft then went into a flat spin and pancaked into the ground, but was sufficiently intact to allow the cause of the fire to be determined relatively quickly.
On June 16, 2006, while practicing for an air show at Carp Airport in Ottawa, Canada, Scott Manning fatally crashed in his "Stinger Jet," the last BD-5J that remained on the airshow circuit. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigated the accident and issued a report assigning the probable cause to the incorrect installation of the right wing, which caused the flap on that wing to suddenly retract in flight and create a "split flap" condition. The aircraft rolled to the right and Manning was unable to recover in time.
Recently, the BD-5J operates in the national security arena. The aircraft is certified by the United States Department of Defense as a cruise missile surrogate, with Bishop's Aerial Productions offering a version known as the Smart-1 (Small Manned Aerial Radar Target, Model 1). The radar return and general performance characteristics make it a useful aid in training. On June 27, 2006, while flying one of these aircraft, pilot Chuck Lischer, a highly experienced professional air show pilot, was killed when he crashed into trees on final approach to the Ocean City Municipal Airport in Ocean City, Maryland. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the mishap and determined that the aircraft returned to land with more fuel than recommended for normal operations and that the pilot failed to maintain speed, resulting in a stall and subsequent impact short of the runway. The NTSB investigation results can be found at the NTSB web site.
The BD-5J has also held the Guinness record for the World's Smallest Jet for more than 25 years. Bob Bishop originally garnered the record with one of his jets, and in November 2004 the record changed hands to Juan Jiménez, whose BD-5J weighed in at 358.8 lb (162.7 kg) empty weight, 80 lb (36 kg) lighter than Bishop's jet and the lightest documented weight for a BD-5.
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