Bede BD-10

General Aviation Jet-Powered Kit Aircraft

United States | 1992

"The Bede BD-10 jet-powered aircraft kit concept never quite took off in the 1990s, just five examples were completed and three lost in fatal midair accidents."

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Bede BD-10 General Aviation Jet-Powered Kit Aircraft.

1 x General Electric CJ-610 non-afterburning turbojet engine developing 2,950lb of thrust (Alternate fits included GE J85 and Pratt & Whitney JT-12 and JT-15Dengines).
Propulsion

1,075 mph
1,730 kph | 934 kts
Max Speed

44,997 ft
13,715 m | 9 miles
Service Ceiling

1,553 miles
2,500 km | 1,350 nm
Operational Range

30,000 ft/min
9,144 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Bede BD-10 General Aviation Jet-Powered Kit Aircraft.

2
(MANNED)
Crew

28.9 ft
8.80 m
O/A Length

21.5 ft
(6.55 m)
O/A Width

8.0 ft
(2.45 m)
O/A Height

1,598 lb
(725 kg)
Empty Weight

4,442 lb
(2,015 kg)
MTOW

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Bede BD-10 family line.

BD-10 - Base Project Designation; five examples completed.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/16/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

The Bede BD-10 was developed to fill a specific niche market gap within General Aviation by providing the private pilot with a high-performance jet-powered solution. The aircraft was built from premade components via the "kit" approach and marketed on the qualities of affordability and ease-of-maintenance to those with the funds for such an investment. While becoming the first at-home supersonic performer in history, the series was plagued with technological and legal issues throughout its existence, resulting in just five airframes being completed and only three of this lot being flyable - all being lost in fatal crashes for their time in the air.

Origins of the BD-10 lay in early work conducted by aircraft designer Jim Bede back in 1983 with a formal announcement of the project following before the end of the decade. The initial engine of choice became the General Electric J85 turbojet which was already in widespread use at the military level and was a fixture in the civilian marketplace as the "CJ-610". A single-engine design configuration was adopted for the new jet aircraft which would seat its two occupants in tandem under a single-piece, side-hinged canopy. In essence, the aircraft followed much of the form-and-function of the military-level aerobatic Northrop T-38 "Talon" Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) operated in number by the United States Air Force (USAF). Comparatively, the Bede design was of much smaller dimensions and relied on a single jet engine fitting.

The end result was an aircraft whose profile exhibited "fighter-like" lines and performance. It featured a well-pointed nosecone at front, shoulder-mounted swept-back mainplanes at midships, and twin vertical tailplanes at the rear. A retractable tricycle undercarriage was used for ground-running and the airframe was by a single General Electric CJ-610 non-afterburning turbojet engine (alternative possible fits eventually became the GE J-85 and the Pratt & Whitney JT-12).

Empty weight of the aircraft ultimately ballooned to become 2,250lb with a maximum gross weight rating reaching 4,400lb. The aircraft was marketed with a maximum speed of Mach 1.4, cruising at 595 miles-per-hour (Mach 0.90), and a service ceiling up to 45,000 feet while climbing as a rate of 20,000 to 30,000 feet-per-minute. The take-off run was 850 feet with a landing run of 1,800 feet and overall range reached out to 1,350 nautical miles. Relatively lightweight and fitting a powerful jet engine, the BD-10 on paper was a true high-performance platform.

Internally, its simplicity was such that the aircraft could be cold-started and ready to taxi within minutes. Testing on the BD-10 prototype ensured in mid-1992 and this revealed shortcomings by way of a weak undercarriage, increased operating weight (which led to a reduction in onboard fuel, thus decreasing operational ranges), substandard performance, and concerns about the weak tail unit. Due to mounting issues, the project was eventually abandoned even as customer deposits reached over sixty.

To satisfy this, Fox 10 Corporation was arranged to better assist buyers in completing their BD-10 kits and the company eventually rebranded the aircraft as the "Fox-10" - this evolved to become the "Peregrine Falcon" eventually pushed by the newly-minted Peregrine Flight International concern.

Fox's prototype was flow in December of 1994 but killed its test pilot after the aircraft broke up mid-flight. A follow-up prototype also crashed in August 1995 due to a flap malfunction - this killed the test pilot Joseph Henderson who was also Peregrine's company president.

Military rights to the aircraft were sold to Canadian-based Monitor Jet who looked to sell the design as a basic jet trainer under the designation of "MJ-7" complete with a Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) JT-15D turbojet jet engine but the initiative never gained much footing and fell to naught with the sole example ending its days as a museum showpiece at the Toronto Aerospace Museum.

In 1997, Bede filed for bankruptcy to which investors moved to form Vortex Aircraft and push the rebranded "PhoenixJet" as a military trainer. This initiative, too, fell to nothing and the last flyable BD-10 was lost - again in mid-flight - in 2003 claiming the life of its pilot (Frank Everett).

For its time, the BD-10 garnered modest interest from those budget-restricted air forces of the world who envisioned a fleet of basic jet trainers being put together from the product's kit-built approach. Other air services saw some value in a low-cost, high-performance proficiency trainer while other possible military roles went on to include unmanned drones and aerial targets. However, none of these initiatives ever materialized.

Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Bede BD-10. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 5 Units
Contractor(s): Bede Jet Corporation - USA

[ United States (cancelled) ]

Going Further...
The Bede BD-10 General Aviation Jet-Powered Kit Aircraft appears in the following collections:

HOME

AVIATION INDEX

AIRCRAFT BY COUNTRY

AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Scale Military Ranks of the World U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols Breakdown U.S. 5-Star Generals List WWII Weapons by Country World War Next

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing military medals and ribbons. Special Interest: RailRoad Junction, the locomotive encyclopedia.

©2024 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2024 (21yrs)