Bede BD-5 - Variants

Variants

BD-5

Prototype and initial kit production aircraft with short span wings.

BD-5A

Short span wing production, with "short" 14ft 3in (4.34 m) wings tuned for high speeds and aerobatics.

BD-5B

Main piston engined production kits with extended span wings of 21ft 6in (6.55 m) wings. Kits still available in 2011.

BD-5D

Factory built aircraft.

BD-5G

Piston engined production kit with span wing of 17 ft (5.2 m) and a gross weight of 660 lb (299 kg). Kits still available in 2011.

BD-5J

The Jet powered version fitted with a Sermel (Microturbo) TRS-18-046 turbojet, derived from gas generators used for starting full sized gas turbine engines.

BD-5S

A sailplane version with engine removed and extended span wings. Flight testing was disappointing and further work on the BD-5S was abandoned.

BD-5T

A turboprop conversion by BD Micro Technologies of Siletz, Oregon powered by a Solar T62 turboprop engine.

Acapella 100/200

An unusual adaptation of the BD-5, the Acapella 100, appeared in the early 1980s. Designer Carl D. Barlow of Option Air Reno mated a BD-5 fuselage with a distinctive twin-boom empennage and fitted it with a 100 hp Continental O-200 engine. Later, a 200 hp Lycoming IO-360 was fitted, and the wings shortened from 26.5 feet to 19.5 feet, becoming the Acapella 200-S model. The prototype of this aircraft was first flown on June 6, 1980, with pilot Bill Skiliar at the controls. Nonetheless, it flew poorly and was difficult to control. Only the one prototype was built and it was donated to the Experimental Aircraft Association's Airventure Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA, where it is occasionally placed on display.

FLS Microjet

Model produced in kit form by BD-Micro Technologies powered by a Quantum Turbine TJ100 engine. The 500 hour kit was sold for US$189,500 in 2011.