The BD-17L uses a half inch honeycomb sandwich panels. They are chemically welded with gussets to each other. This concept was originally used on the BD-1 and the Yankee. It is a honeycomb core with .020 skins bonded on each side. This creates an extremely light weight but strong panel.
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 landing gear is one continuous hoop that is fastened to the center section with two pins. The actual assembly to the center section takes approx. 15 minutes. The landing gear is bullet drilled for the brake lines. Fittings are attached at the top and bottom of the hoop. The main landing gear takes approximately 3 hours to build including wheels and brakes.
