Worlds First DIY Supersonic Jet: Bede BD-10

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The Worlds First Homebuilt Supersonic Jet: BD-10

The Bd-10 was built by Bede Jet Corporation, and was the successor to the well-known Bd-5, a aircraft that seemed to be well on its way as one of the most popular homebuilts of its day. There was just one problem, finding a suitable powerplant. The aircraft cousins did not share the same issue, the larger BD-10 used a reliable and common engine of the day. The General Electric J85, found mostly in Learjet Model 23s.

Construction of the BD-10 was fairly conventional, aluminum sheeting was used in most of the airframe. The all-metal aircraft had a dry weight of 1,600lbs, similar to the admirable Cessna 172. With full fuel, the Bd-10 weighed in at 4,400LBS, and with the J85, it was overpowered; a major advantage.

Estimations on the performance of the BD-10 were amazing. Leaping off the ground in 850 feet, the aircraft would then climb at 20,000 feet per minute, leveling off at 45,000ft, it would then acquire a cruise speed of 590mph. And at full power, Mach 1.4

When the first prototype flew in 1992, actual real world numbers weren't quite what the company hoped. Empty weight alone ballooned to 2,250lbs. Weight and balance then came out of limits, and the fuel capacity had to be cut to 263 gallons, reducing the range from 2,000 down to 1,500mi. Top speed was significantly slower than estimations, about Mach .84, none the less, still somewhat impressive.

During early testing, problems began showing up. One, before the BD-10 even left the ground. Thinned-walled aluminum was mistakenly used for the landing gear strut, which couldn't support the weight of the aircraft. Due to this, the twin booms twisted, resulting in the vertical stabilizers being at different angles. The only way to notice this was to look at the aircraft head on, which unfortunely, no one did. And on the first landing the BD-10 suffered a landing gear collapse, resulting in even more damage.

In 1994, while enroute to the Reno Air Races, the BD-10 prototype experienced wrinkling on the skin of the vertical stabilizers, this was caused by excessive flex. A common problem for aircraft longer than their wingspan. And the BD-10 had a length of almost 30 feet, while the wingspan was just barely over 20 feet. This issue was addressed by installing larger stabilizers. This brought the weight up to 2,410lbs, and unfortunately, did not fix the problem.

Over all, five BD-10s were built, three of those crashed, killing their pilots. One reported that the aircraft disintegrated around him. In 1996, the company couldn’t keep up with the issues that kept arising, and they scrapped the project. The BD-10 was very ambitious, and maybe with a larger powerplant supersonic flight was feasible, however, it could be the only homebuilt aircraft that promised Mach 1.4, to exist.