Jim Bede - Bede Jet

Bede Jet

Within weeks of the FTC Consent Decree expiring in 1989, Bede announced the design of a new two-seat high-speed jet, the Bede BD-10. The original idea appears to have come from a friend, Mike Van Wagenen. He formed a company specially for this project, Bede Jet at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, MO (just outside St. Louis).

Having learned from the BD-5 that using an untested engine was a bad idea, he selected the smallest production engine he could find in quantity, the General Electric J85, and wrapped an airframe around it. The resulting design bore some resemblance to the T-38 Talon/F-5 Freedom Fighter or the F/A-18 Hornet (by the tail arrangement), which were powered by two examples of the same engine. Performance estimates were fantastic: after brake release on the runway the 1,580 lb (715 kg) aircraft could climb to 10,000 feet (3050 m) in under 60 seconds, would cruise for 2,000 miles (3,200 km) at up to 45,000 ft (13,700 m) altitude in a 9 psi (465 mm Hg) pressurized cabin, and could reach supersonic speeds of up to Mach 1.4.

Bede's prototype was completed in 1992 and started testing, although it suffered from a number of minor teething problems. Over the design period the weight had ballooned from 1,600 lb (725 kg) to 2,800 lb (1,270 kg) and fuel tankage had to be cut, which dramatically reduced range from the original 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to a mere 400 to 500 (650 to 800 km). Speed was equally poor; even at full thrust the plane was barely able to reach the transonic, at Mach 0.83. It was sent to the Reno Air Races in 1994 to drum up sales, where it suffered from some wrinkling around the vertical stabilizers, indicated too much flex. A fix was designed, but by late in the year the project seems to have ground to a halt.

Van Wagenen had already planned to help kit buyers build the plane, and in December 1993 took over the civilian rights to the program, intending to sell completed versions (as opposed to kits) as the Fox 10. During testing of the first aircraft the vertical stabilizers broke off, killing Van Wagenen. Another example followed with a new owner at the controls, which suffered from a flap failure causing another deadly crash. All work at Fox, now known as Peregrine Flight International, ended. Meanwhile Bede had sold the military rights to Monitor Jet of Canada, but nothing ever came of this. Bede Jet declared bankruptcy in 1997. The only other completed aircraft disintegrated in flight in 2003.