Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Bede BD 3

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First flight
  
1965

Designer
  
Jim Bede

The Bede BD-3 is a prototype six passenger homebuilt aircraft.

Contents

Design and development

The BD-3 is a six place, low wing pusher configuration aircraft with tricycle landing gear. The aircraft is powered by two engines driving a single shrouded pusher propeller connected with V belts and overriding clutches. The aircraft uses STOL Boundary layer control devices. The fuselage was built using aluminum honeycomb. Bede intended to scale up a turboprop variant for 15 and 24 passengers. The BD-3 prototype was sold to the EAA AirVenture Museum, although by 2013 it did not appear on the museum's list of aircraft owned.

Variants

Bede XBD-2
Flying prototype - Twin Continental O-300
BD-3
Production model

Specifications (BD-3)

Data from Air Progress, Flying

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: 5 passengers
  • Length: 30 ft 8 in (9.35 m)
  • Wingspan: 38 ft 5 in (11.71 m)
  • Height: 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m)
  • Wing area: 192 sq ft (17.8 m2)
  • Gross weight: 4,300 lb (1,950 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 116 U.S. gallons (440 L; 97 imp gal)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Lycoming IO-540-B1A-5 horizontally opposed piston aircraft engine, 290 hp (220 kW) each
  • Propellers: 3-bladed Hartzell - Aluminum

    • Performance

  • Cruise speed: 261 kn; 483 km/h (300 mph)
  • Stall speed: 36 kn; 68 km/h (42 mph)
  • Service ceiling: 28,000 ft (8,500 m)

    • References

    Bede BD-3 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA