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Famed Aircraft Designer James Bede Dies

Posted by timothy on from the earned-his-wings dept.

linuxwrangler writes with a bit of news overlooked from last week, but worth noting: Prolific aircraft designer James "Jim" Bede has died at age 82. Although Bede designed numerous aircraft he is most commonly associated with the BD-5J, the "world's smallest jet", that was famously used to help James Bond escape in the movie "Octopussy." Bede's company currently has that aircraft for sale.

3 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. BD-5 by Camel+Pilot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When I was a kid I dreamed of building and owning a BD-5... Now that I read that of the first 10 BD-5's built 5 resulted in fatal crashes (50% is pretty steep ratio). Sometimes you have to thank God for unfulfilled dreams.

    1. Re:BD-5 by RubberDogBone · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The BD-10 kill rate was worse, which is a shame because the design looks amazing. A supersonic private jet made of plywood? Yeah it worked out kinda like you might expect.

      Sad.

      On the other hand, Bede's machines did fly unlike Moller's stuff that's been "almost ready" for 50 years.

      --
      Sig for hire.
  2. San Bernadino Fire by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Speaking of aircraft, right now the San Bernadino Fire Dept is saying that fire-fighting aircraft are being grounded because of all the private drone activity in the area around the wildfire.

    http://ktla.com/2015/07/17/15-...

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.