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The BD-17 incorporates everything that famed aircraft designer Jim Bede has learned in 45 years of aircraft design and engineering. A pioneer in the home-built aircraft field, Bede has launched a dozen significant designs, including the crowd-pleasing BD-5J single-seat pocket jet, the sweetheart of a thousand air shows, and the star of the James Bond classic “Octopussy”. The BD-4 (now the 4-B) which was the first star of the homebuilt industry; the fighter-like BD-10 single-place executive jet; and the two-place BD-1, which ultimately became the production Grumman American.
Some of the features that make the BD-17 an ideal plane for the first-time builder can be seen in the above slide slow, an economical time-builder for pilots, and a superior aircraft where there is a premium on ability to cover a lot of ground at low cost.The BD-17 is a fast build, using modular design, and can be assembled in less than 200 hours on your site as either a tricycle gear or tail-wheel aircraft, with a choice of three solid engines. (A two-car garage is more than adequate for construction). If you choose to do it yourself, dealer support is fast, dependable, and if necessary more intense dealer involvement available. The BD-17 wing spar is strong, light and simple, extruded aircraft-quality aluminum tube. Both wing spars slide over a center spar rigidly, fastened to the fuselage, providing exceptional load-carrying strength. Ribs are made of the same honeycomb aluminum that makes the fuselage 300% stronger than conventional construction. The BD-17’s wing spar has been tested to 11.2 Gs without failure in destructive testing. The honeycomb wing ribs form a series of sealed panels in each wing, capable of holding up to ten gallons of fuel in each with the option of an additional panel on each wing to store fuel.
The fuselage is built with sheets of honeycomb aluminum which is a factory-assembled sandwich of two half-inch thick aluminum panels bonded to a center section of light, strong vertically-aligned quarter-inch high aluminum cells. The honeycomb panels are heavier than typical construction, but the added 20 percent in weight is more than offset by 300 % strength improvement. The name is bond- fast bond. The fuselage panels are bonded together with .020 sheet-metal angles. We bond fuselage angles on the outside at the factory, to assure precise geometry leaving the inside bonding up to the customer. The wing and empennage panels use the same bonding materials and techniques utilized in building military aircraft. The high-performance epoxy bonds cure in one hour at room temperature with minimum surface prep. Each fuselage panel comes cut to size with pre-drilled holes for internal bracketing. Innovative torque-tube controls and polyfoam control surfaces are featured on the BD-17. The ailerons, like the flaps and rudder, are made of sturdy self-skinning long-life polyurethane molded to a torque tube. To finish the control surfaces, the builder needs only to prime and paint the surface of the wings and tail giving it an unlimited life span.
