BD-4 Landing at Okeechobee

[@apfelsnutz]

Nice and smooth, good job. Quite a long final though... I'd stay higher longer. Thanks for the video, you've got a good plane there, BD-4's are very capable machines.

[@donbiscoe9359]

Looking for a BD4 for sale...

[@MariaOrLex]

New subscriber nice airplane

[@keylempi]

Thanks

[@brucesmith4436]

Hi Ken, I'm a Piper Archer owner who's interested in building a BD-4. What are the pros and cons of the BD-4. Is it a 2+2 or a true four seater? Handling? Thank you!

[@kieyavorsky2188]

its a true 4 seater

[@keylempi]

The BD-4B is a 2+2. The newer design BD-4C is a true 4 seater. It's fast and flies like a sports car handles with a good payload. I went from a Cherokee 140 to the BD and used pretty much the same techniques. Stalls are easy to recover from. Biggest change I had to do was watch the ball. It's a short plane and the ball likes to be almost anywhere but in the center so that's the only real change for me.

[@timduncan8450]

Thx for the footage. I am looking for an fast, high useful load, economic kit to build. How is the cross wind landing and taxiing capability with only the diff braking to steer with? How does this compare to a Cessna for instance? How is the head room/visibility for a big guy?

[@keylempi]

I find it much more stable in crosswind landings than a Cessna but it's very responsive in normal flight. I have no problem landing in a 20 knot crosswind and have never had problems with taxiing. Brake pads last about 3 years for me but that can very depending on how much flying you do,

[@timduncan8450]

Ken Strite Thx. Can you please discuss the head room? Or is there a site that does?

[@keylempi]

​@@timduncan8450 I am 6"2". I don't have any problem with headroom but I did install Suzuki Samurai seats and fly with my seat slightly reclined. That along with my shoulder harness seem to be enough to keep me from being able to hit my head on the center spar in case of sudden stoppage. I don't think anyone over about 5'5" should try to sit in the back both because of head room and lack of leg room. Of course my plane is a BD-4B. The BD-4C has more headroom, is wider, and is longer so probably a better plane all around.

[@timduncan8450]

@@keylempi thx

[@yeagermcbipper9008]

You were on final for 4 days.

[@flyingwithken3167]

Yeah, I had a hell of a time dealing with the wind.