Jim Bede has gone west

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AcroGimp

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Sorry to hear that Jim Bede passed away earlier today.

I did some work with Jim back in the Bede-12/14 days.

He was a great host to my wife and I when we visited his facility, almost got to fly in the BD-10. He was also very great to us when we visited his display at Oshkosh with the BD-12.

BD-12 graphics designed and fabricated by yours truly:
bd-12-2_zpszysnbkbe.jpg


Bede-12_zpsykdfcai3.jpg


BD12-1_zpscmq5mgj3.jpg


Jim was a truly visionary designer who has left a remarkable legacy (both good and bad) across both certified and experimental aviation.

God speed Jim Bede.

'Gimp
 
He was indeed an innovative designer. His BD-1 was the basis for the American AA-1 Yankee, which in turn led to the four-seat Grumman American AA-5 Traveler, Cheetah and Tiger.

For you whippersnappers who don't remember the Bede-mania of the mid-1960s, read this May 1965 Flying magazine article, "Promises, Promises", here (scroll down to page 79):
https://books.google.com/books?id=B...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Attached below are scans of the Bede literature that came to our house when my dad wrote for information about the BD-1 in 1964.
 

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Great at vision, little short on completion.
The BD-1 design didn't get really interesting until after LoPresti cleaned it up.
 
Yeah, he was an interesting guy. That's all I will say.
 
Too many visions at once,not enough time to complete them,may he rest in peace.
 
Totally crazy. I DVR'd a "miniature airplane" show last week and just watched it last night. Jim Bede appeared on it and I looked at my wife and said, "I'm pretty sure he just died today". She thought I was totally making it up until I pulled up Bede's website and there was a statement on there. She thinks I'm a psychic now.

I'd love to fly one of those Bede jets. RIP.
 
I suppose I'm one of the aforementioned whippersnappers, but I'll never forget this:



If your stuff makes it into a James Bond flick, you are pretty darn cool.

RIP
 
Last edited:
Bought my Arrow from Bede Corp...guess the paint scheme...RIP Jim
 
OkieFlyer said:
I suppose I'm one of the aforementioned whippersnappers, but I'll never forget this:



If your stuff makes it into a James Bond flick, you are pretty darn cool.

RIP
Click to expand...

I think that clip is pretty accurate....3-4 minutes of flight time!

RIP, Jim.
 
Before the BD-1 there was the XBD-2 (naturally!). First flown in 1961, it had a suction boundary layer control system with 164,000 pinholes in the upper wing surfaces. Air was pulled through those holes and blown into the engine compartment. Two Continental O-300-A engines (145 hp each) drove a shrouded three-blade prop. Bede claimed :rolleyes: a cruising speed of 179 mph.

The XBD-2's one lasting legacy was the fiberglass main landing gear which was used on the BD-1, and later on the AA-1x and AA-5x series.

xbd-2.jpg
 
Pilawt said:
Before the BD-1 there was the XBD-2 (naturally!). First flown in 1961, it had a suction boundary layer control system with 164,000 pinholes in the upper wing surfaces. Air was pulled through those holes and blown into the engine compartment. Two Continental O-300-A engines (145 hp each) drove a shrouded three-blade prop. Bede claimed :rolleyes: a cruising speed of 179 mph.

The XBD-2's one lasting legacy was the fiberglass main landing gear which was used on the BD-1, and later on the AA-1x and AA-5x series.

xbd-2.jpg
Click to expand...


I drive past the XBD-2 every time I go to the airport, its sitting in front of KMTW on a pedestal. Never knew about the holes in the wings or the two engines, just thought it was a bread box with tiny wings :D
 
Couple pictures.. They repainted it last year from the other paint job posted above (not sure why, this new paint job looks like a 5 year old did it :dunno:).

ACF3OYm.jpg


E1azE8U.jpg


6Gpxx1e.jpg


ATQl1Ns.jpg


Holes still visible in the last picture.
 
FredFenster said:
Couple pictures.. They repainted it last year from the other paint job posted above (not sure why, this new paint job looks like a 5 year old did it :dunno:).

ACF3OYm.jpg


E1azE8U.jpg


6Gpxx1e.jpg


ATQl1Ns.jpg


Holes still visible in the last picture.
Click to expand...

That's the 3rd paint scheme that I know of. The mailbox letters really set it off :rolleyes:
 
A true visionary in aviation, a world where sameness is more often rewarded than innovation.

RIP, sir.
 
ahkahn said:
I'd love to fly one of those Bede jets. RIP.
Click to expand...



RIP to the man.

You may want to re-think flying the jet however.

I heard every single one of them has crashed and either killed the pilot or were totalled or had some kind of incident. This is heresay I heard mind you...:redface: .
 
I applaud those who are willing to do some things outside of the box in aviation, and he certainly seemed to be one of those people. I had never seen the XBD-2 before, very interesting stuff.
 
Is taking people's money and not delivering product considered inside, or outside, "the box" for aviation? :dunno:
 
Yep, just about every company established to commercially produce the BD-10 design lost it's president in a crash of the jet.
 
Being from the same town, I met Jim a couple of years ago through the local EAA chapter. He gave a wonderful talk in the shop of one of the members who had an in-process BD-5. This is truly sad.
 
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