Bede Aircraft
 A BD-5J at Farnborough Airport on 10 September 1976 | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1961 |
| Founder | Jim Bede |
Bede Aircraft Corporation was founded by aeronautical engineer
Budweiser commercials (the Bud Light Jet, which was lost in an inflight fire and crash unrelated to airshow work). The tiny jet also appeared in two James Bond movies; Octopussy starring Sir Roger Moore, and later in a cameo appearance, hanging from the wall of Q's workshop in Die Another Day starring Pierce Brosnan
as Agent 007.
A later design, the
supersonic personal jet built from a kit. Five examples were built in total and three of these crashed. Only two examples remain, both unflyable. The second aircraft was built at the Peregrine Aircraft Company in Minden Nevada. During a flight Test at Douglas County Airport, the aircraft far exceeded the maximum safe flight test speed, and broke up inflight, killing pilot Mike VanWagonen. It was estimated that this aircraft experienced catastrophic vertical stabilizer failure, due to the excess speed during the flight. None of them ever broke the sound barrier
. This aircraft was featured on the cover of Aviation Week in June 1994, with a full pilots report.
Aircraft
| Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bede BD-1 | 1963 | ||
| Bede BD-2 | 1967 | 1 | |
| Bede XBD-2 | 1961 | 1 | |
| Bede BD-3 | 1965 | ||
| Bede BD-4 | 1968 | ||
| Bede BD-5 | 1971 | ||
| Bede BD-6 | 1974 | ||
| Bede BD-7 | |||
| Bede BD-8 | 1980 | 1 | |
| Bede BD-10 | 1992 | 5 | |
| Bede BD-12 | 1 | ||
| Bede BD-14 | 1 | ||
| Bede BD-17 Nugget | 2001 | ||
| Bede BD-18 | |||
| Bede BD-22L | |||
| Bede Wing | Inflatable hang glider |
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bede Aircraft.
- Current company website
- "BedeCorp, LLC website". Archived from the original on 5 November 2005. Retrieved 2005-12-05.
- "Bede Aircraft Pictures". Archived from the original on 8 January 2006. Retrieved 2005-12-05.
- "Bede XBD-2". 1000 Aircraft Photos.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved December 5, 2005.
- "Bede BD-12 photo and specifications". Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2005-06-08.