Picture Gallery, Library, Specifications and Aviation Information

Mockup aircraft production contracts for a James Bond movie?

An anonymous donor (Thank you Mr. H!) has provided us with digitized copies of the original contracts issued for the construction of several mockup BD-5 aircraft for a James Bond movie. As an interesting bit of trivia, the mockups were not ordered for the 1983 movie "Octopussy" which made the BD-5J Microjet famous. They were ordered in 1978 for the 1979 movie "Moonraker" but were not used because the production ran over-budget. They were then stored and when the call came for the flying sequences in Octopussy, they were dusted off and called to service. One of the mockups became the "bird on a stick'' aircraft used in the hangar sequence. The mockup was installed on a vertical post, and the post was affixed to a Jaguar convertible that drove through the hangar to make it look as if Bond had flown through it. Corkey Fornof made the real pass through the hangar, but the interior pass was too fast to be used in the movie. You can see the post below the aircraft if you look closely during the scene. Another piece of trivia -- the transmission on the Jaguar gave up the ghost and the car stopped running after that scene!
Contract Page 1
Contract Page 2

Bede Aircraft Co. 1970's Images

Our web site visitors and mailing list members have recently flooded us with some amazing pictures from the 1970's, of the Bede Aircraft Co. factory, a promotional BD-5J visit as part of the flight testing program, and some early images of the factory and visitors.
Click here and see for yourself!

BD-10 Aviation Week Pilot Report

PDF of the June 1994 Pilot Report of the BD-10 jet published in Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine

BD-10 Promotional Videos!

The BD-10 was originally designed as the ultimate kit aircraft, a two-seat supersonic personal jet that could climb to 10,000 feet from brake release in under 60 seconds and allow you to cruise in comfort at 45,000 in a 9 psi pressurized cabin. These two files are original promotional videos for the aircraft. You'll need a broadband connection to the Internet, otherwise the will take quite a bit of time to download.

Short Promo, 5:12, 320x240, 8.8mb, Windows Media Video
Long Promo, 19:14, 320x240, 36mb, Windows Media Video

The Bede Design Information Series

Several years ago Bede Aircraft Corp. ran a series of information/advertisements in sport aviation and homebuilt magazines. The series covered quite a few subjects. David Anderson has supplied the majority of these scans. We are still missing some, though, so if you have them, let us know!

The Bede Wing

Most people are not aware that Jim Bede is a very prolific aircraft designer and aerodynamic engineer. By the time he announced the BD-5 he had already worked on such aircraft as the F-4 Phamtom and had been awarded a FAI World Record. One of the interesting designs he came up with was the Bede Wing, an inflatable wing design that could be filled with either air or helium.

Bede Wing in Flight (Color Picture!)
Bede Wing filled with helium, on ramp
Bede Wing mounted on a simple one-seat ultralight-style frame w/engine
The Bede Wing Recovery and Storage Unit
Original Bede Wing Purchase Agreement (Adobe Acrobat required)

The Bede LiteStar Project

Few people are aware of the fact that Jim Bede designed a vehicle around a motorcycle engine called the "LiteStar." Various people have different ideas of how many of these were sold, and of its history. Apparently they were sold as the "Pulse" and 400 of them were made, after which production stopped because of DOT restrictions on special VIN numbers. I have not been able to find pictures of the LiteStar. Until now. This one was supposed to be the one that Bede kept, the prototype. It was sitting in a warehouse in St. Louis, and was at the time property of Mr. Randy Dana, an attorney from Columbus, Ohio.

Image Gallery / Slide Show

A collection of pictures of the BD-5, other Bede Aircraft models and various other images from photos taken by myself and web site contributors. (Special thanks to David Anderson for his great image contributions!)

Dallas FINA Airshow Images

The Dallas FINA Airshow 99 at Love Field was the first airshow to which I was ever invited as an exhibitor to show the BD-5. It was nowhere near presentable at the time, but I thought the kids wouldn't mind. Understatement of the day. The kids swamped it during the shows. I had a great time with my wife and son. Also here you will find the only Allison turbine-powered street legal motorcycle I have ever seen. Awesome!

What? A real BD-5 simulator? How?

We asked ourselves the same thing, until we saw the brochure and the picture behind this link. Come take a look for yourself. Whoever thought of this one deserves prize!

BD-5 Reference Library

A collection of reference materials for the BD-5, such as Bede Aircraft's information memos, newsletters, letters to owners regarding various aircraft and company issues, reviews, etc. This Library will continue to grow as I find time to transcribe the materials I have. Donations welcome.

BD-5 Redesign Project
(Link no longer works. Know the new one? Tell me!)

This site contains detailed information on what appears to be a university project to redesign the BD-5 aircraft. I have not yet been able to determine the source of this information, but it makes for very interesting reading!

Specifications of Various BD-5 Models

A table listing the specifications for three models of the BD-5 Series.

Sun-N-Fun 1997 Pictures

I spent a day at Sun-N-Fun 1997 in Lakeland, Florida. These are some of the images I brought back with me.

Catalina (PBY) At Isla Grande

Last year a 1944 Catalina (PBY) had problems in Aguadilla. The cockpit was flooded with salt water, and the aircraft was later towed to Isla Grande for repairs. I happened to take a video of the aircraft as it was leaving for Isla Verde for final repairs before being delivered to its final owner in Miami. Here are some captured pics of the aircraft.

Convair vs. Caravan - No Contest!

Couple of months a Convair cargo aircraft came to blows with a Caravan at San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico. The pictures behind this link show the results. Caution: Not for the weak of stomach!!!

Flight Testing of Homebuilt Aircraft

A paper on the finer points of flight testing homebuilt aircraft. Very interesting and full of important information.