BD5 High Performance Micro Jet

[@edjohnson2333]

I flew over 400 Airshows, including Air Venture, in the BD-5J. Had 2 of them at one time. Along with a Pitts and a Lazer. Sponsored first by Republic Airlines and later for years by Bud Light. It is not for the faint of heart to fly. Especially low level Airshow Aerobatics. Having flown Fighters with 2 Combat Tours from the F4 Phantom to the F-15, it flys like a Mini Fighter. Much more sensitive though. You just add force to the stick without much movement at all. Kind of like flying by thought. If you can fly an Unlimited Aerobatic Plane and a Jet Fighter, plus know how to land a High Performance Sail Plane, you would be qualified for it. Otherwise forget it. Too many Pilots have died flying it. Even a top Test Pilot at Edwards Air Force Base crashed it and barely survived. It is also very light and subject to heavy turbulence at high speed. However, having said all that, it is the THRILL of a LIFETIME to fly low level Airshows in !!!

[@mattgraham4340]

I thought it was the Coors light "silver bullet" or did Bud sponsor some also?

[@edjohnson2333]

@@mattgraham4340 Yes Bud Light sponsored mine for over 10 years. Coors sponsored Bobby Bishop for around 4 years.

[@BedeBIngraham]

Hi, Ed... Brian Ingraham here. Don't know if you remember me from TMB back in the day, working at the original Weeks Air Museum. I've been involved with Bede Aero for quite a few years, and I'm now flying this specific airplane out of Ellington Field in Houston.

[@edjohnson2333]

@@BedeBIngraham Hi Brian,,,Good to hear from you. Weren't you building a Weeks Special back then when I was building my Laser at Kermit's? Congrats on flying the BD-5J and living to talk about it. Are you doing Aerobatics and Airshows in it? The 2nd Jet I built was really light with stiffer wings and all composite flight controls. Larger ailerons for faster roll rate. Lots of hair raising experiences in 12 years and over 400 Airshows. Had to dead stick it 3 times, 2 of which it flamed out during a tail slide. It is really a great airplane to fly but deserves constant attention, so be careful....Good Luck, ED

[@BedeBIngraham]

@@edjohnson2333, good memory. Yes, I was building a Weeks Special. I had the fuselage/tail feathers complete and Kermit sold me the wings that were originally on his Special before he built the new lightweight version. But his airplane was in the TMB hangar when it collapsed during Hurricane Andrew and a girder crashed down through the upper and lower right side wings and he asked if I would sell the wings back to him. Last time I went by Fantasy of Flight we sort of strolled through some of his hangars and... BANG!... I found the fuselage just as I left it! This BD-5J went from Alan Thompson, to Toyoshi Kimura (who had an off field landing) and then Don Wall bought it. After he rebuilt it, it only flew once. It has been on display at the Bede booth at Oshkosh every year since 2006. In 2020, Don donated it to the Bede Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that was set up after Jim Bede Sr. died in 2015, with the purpose of supporting youth in aviation. I'll be flying it to advertise the Foundation and drum up donations. No airshows, except perhaps demonstration flights and the only aerobatics are for fun. I'll be a regular on the fly-in breakfast and local airshow circuits. Just fun stuff. It's next appearance with be at the Deland show in November.

[@ParadigmUnkn0wn]

Literally a personal jet from a James Bond film.

[@m.zahidiftikhar6818]

I am surprised that there was no reference to James Bond here, nor the fact that this design is the lightest/smallest jet engine powered airplane.. This design also has many crashes to its name, until wing span got lengthened.

[@DblIre]

Corky For off flew it in the Bond flick.

[@PorscheMonster]

I distinctly remembered the scene where it was flown through a hanger!

[@glynmatthews6697]

Literally ..

[@si.ari.06]

​@@m.zahidiftikhar6818that's inaccurate... Maybe it's the smallest/lightest MANNED Jet powered airplane but it's definitely far from being the smallest/lightest _airplane_ in the world

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

A Lotus and a BD5 was the dream garage of 1972. I got half of the dream... though later graduated to Corvettes. half a century later, still love the BD5... and never owned a plane... Brilliant design, efficient and timeless.

[@sibtainbukhari5447]

Such a cool plane! Wish jets like these were more popular and available to the common man. An interview with the owner would have been nice, he seemed keen

[@thomasharroun8068]

I met Jim Bede 30 years ago when he presented the BD-10. The BD-5 was used for the Coors Silver Bullet. Jim Bede worked at McDonnell Douglas in St Louis. The BD-5 was also used during the opening of the James Bond Movie Octopussy.

[@bax6096]

I saw it fly in Daytona

[@thomasharroun8068]

@@bax6096 The Octopussy BD-5 was demonstrated at Oshkosh in 1983

[@bax6096]

I think it was the coors lite jet I saw in 1990 in Daytona.

[@bax6096]

You were lucky to meet bede..when I was a kid I used to think the guy was so cool and I wanted a bd5

[@harleywylie2909]

I remember seeing the BD5J demo team flying at an airshow at Paine Field, Everett WA. The Coors Lite Silver Bullet jet demo team. The announcer was saying it "...is the fastest gear in the west!" Then it's stubby little landing gears would quickly pop out and then pop back in. I believe that was in 1985, Art Scholl also did a great performance routine in his Super chipmunk; he died later that year while doing some filming for the movie Top Gun.

[@bladenrexroth2555]

The BD-10 is basically a light sport fighter jet

[@stevekozar5335]

That's the first plane that really got me interested in airplanes & flying. I saw one being flown in an airshow (it was a Budweiser branded/sponsored) in the late 70s or early 80s. I met the pilot & got his autograph on their big postcard flyer thingy. I've wanted to have one ever since!

[@NicksStuff]

The air vent that is spring loaded and pops open is genius!

[@randthompson5716]

You're partly correct. My buddy has TWO B-D5's. One built and one in a factory UN-opened kit.

[@Jeffopar]

Hey Mike it was great to meet you at OSH the other day. You are a great and humble guy, a fantastic spokesman for GA. Thanks for your content.

[@pdutube]

I think BD Micro sells kits now but their jet is called the FLS Microjet.

[@rafiqsaid4297]

the prop version with only 60 hp still cruises at 200 kts! and has a range of almost 1000 mi.

[@dirkhamilton2709]

That’s if you can get the prop version to fly without overheating (difficult) or suffering a drive shaft failure (impossible over time) This plus the touchy controls, due to short coupling (elevators are just too close to the wings) are what doomed the aircraft. Had the jet engine been available FIRST, and has the fuselage been stretched by a food or so, and anti-servo tabs installed on the controls (to make it less touchy) it would have been a much more successful airplane.

[@seamusjames9249]

Crazy to stumble across this: my grandfather briefly owned a litestar dealership in the '80s. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident driving one from Las Vegas to Arizona. He also built a Quickie 2 (Rutan design) before I was born. RIP Clarence Greenwood. What a legend.

[@wademant7848]

Hi Mike, Thanks for the hello and handshake at Oshkosh - great for me and wifey to meet you - keep up the efforts !

[@kevinbailey8827]

My dad was building one of these (the prop version) when I was a kid. He finished the fuselage and the wings. I don’t know exactly why he stopped. Two versions of the story I heard were that the engine wasn’t ready for the kit builders, and that some builders were finishing their aircraft and then suddenly dying. Other than my dad’s, the only two I’ve seen irl are one at the Udvar Hazy Air and Space museum near Dulles and one at the Evergreen museum in McMinnville, Oregon (home of the Spruce Goose). You can’t touch the one at the Smithsonian. The one in Oregon was hands on, because it’s just a shell (looking exactly like my dad’s!) and they had it in the kids’ play area.

[@billkea7224]

I don't think Bede ever supplied a viable piston engine for the plane.

[@ratride1]

Got to see Jim Bede when he unveiled the prop version back in the 70s. It was the forerunner of all kit planes you see today. Somewhere I have a brochure for the Bede 5. The jet version came later.

[@PassportBrosBusinessClass]

GREAT FEATURE !!! I always wanted a BD10

[@elizabethlewis3509]

Justin Lewis is a pilot of an an airshow Microjet performing at Oshkosh 2021.

[@rickyreaves4788]

I was fortunate to grow up around Mr Corky. He and my dad were friends. My most vivid memories was the the bud light acrobat team. Think they later became colors light or vice versa. Anyway the guy is a legend in the aero community.

[@RandThompson-dd3sk]

A buddy has two BD5s. One piston ( built), one J model (still in the original box. With a new turbine with it.)

[@bwc1976]

I'd pick something like this over a Lamborghini any day!

[@dja1353]

I remember seeing an air to air video of one of these on TV here in the Seattle area. The pilot while flying: I want to show you the landing gear on this thing landing gear is now watch this… down. Now ready for it up, did you see it move? This thing has fastest landing gear of any plane ever made. And it did. You couldn’t see it move. It just appears then disappears.

[@CalsFlyingMachines]

Impeccable video, thanks so much for this tour.

[@keithb6717]

I think it was featured in Popular Mechanics and or Science back in the day. The prop one had an article earlier as well.

[@christophergeorge8800]

YOU DID A WONDERFUL REVIEW. THANKS

[@klausr8700]

If my memory serves me right, I watched a BD2 at a couple of airshows in 1985 doing aerobatics painted up with Coors logo. Small jet engines made in USA check out Williams International, Waterford, Michigan.

[@cmwsofasale2101]

That would have been one of Bobby Bishops BD5 Acrojets branded as the Coors Light Silver Bullets. All used the same French Microturbo engine, never a Williams Engine. Originally the Sonic Acrojets flown by Bishop and Corkey Fornof. Kits are serviced by MLS in Oregon featuring a stretched fuselage with the same Polish jet engine as used in the Sonex.

[@alfredhermansen4787]

Most of the completed kits actually crashed and killed their pilots. Coors Lite "Silver Bullet" had 2 modified "safer" ones built and had them flown at airshows for a while. One of them crashed twice, the second time after repair from the first incident killed the pilot and destroyed the aircraft. They were marketed as personal jet fighters for shade tree mechanics, featured in Popular Mechanics magazine and the like, but no former jet pilot would ever consider flying one they were so inherently dangerous. Most Jim Bede designed aircraft were notorious widow makers.

[@arrowdynamix9763]

I can remember seeing the BD-5 for the first time back in the day in Popular Mechanics. Then the BD-5J came out. Beautiful little aircraft! Looking at these aircraft with their elegant curves, I can’t figure out why Sonex made their jet so butt ugly!

[@djo9941]

Me too! Wanted one ever since.

[@felixcat9318]

I was just thinking how utterly dreadful the Sonex Jet looks, especially in comparison to the BD-5. Whilst the Sonex will have a much newer generation engine, that all it has over the BD-5. One would have thought that the designer would have wanted to make their aircraft at least be attractive, if not beautiful!

[@kondeamani5106]

Amazing how far technology has come.. this plane to do 300mph, the risen super veloce does 280mph with a rotax 915!!!

[@josephglenn5612]

Somewhere in the back alleys of my memory i found a recollection of an article by Richard Bach (author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull) recounting his cross country trip in his personal BD5J. Frequent stops for fuel. Luggage amounted to a toiletry kit stowed between his legs. Probably published in the late '70s. Bach piloted an F-85 for the ANG when a young man. HIs first plane ride was at age 14.

[@cmwsofasale2101]

By the late 70’s or very early 80’s Bach sold the airplane to airplane dealer Red Stevens. Got to see it once when Stevens stopped in OKC for fuel. Not long afterwards he reportedly aborted a down wind takeoff in Missouri but went off the runway. He survived but the plane didn’t. Such a shame. It was gorgeous!

[@mikmadpro]

Corky & Bishop flew these things MANY moons ago.

[@bearlemley]

I remember seeing those at the Kissimmee Florida State airfare just after I got my license in 73. I went to that airshow several years, so I’m not sure which one it really was. And then, of course, Richard Bach, who wrote a book called Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I believe was on the cover of flying magazine with his BD 5J.

[@matthewf1979]

I’d imagine if you were to modernize the engine, the fuel efficiency would be much better. Much more power too.

[@rafiqsaid4297]

the 60 hp prop version still cruises at 200 kts and uses way less fuel

[@flexairz]

I'd imagine the engine manufacturer already done that, but jets are not so efficient at low altitudes

[@brianb-p6586]

The air intake isn't just to "cool it down" - a gas turbine engine (like any internal combustion engine) uses air as its working fluid, and gas turbines run with substantial excess air (meaning more air than would be required just to burn the fuel).

[@keithnoneya]

WOW so cooooolllllll! A nice interview with the Owner would be a great companion to this video. Thanks for sharing. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya

[@RussianThunderrr]

I like thrust reversers that you did not mention whether they are operational or not.

[@ibluap]

Gosh! I saw one doing aerobatics in FODAE, Chile, 1981. It was insane seeing such a small thing and since one is used to see larger things passing by on the air, it looked much, much faster than it really was! Then I saw it in the 007 movie with Roger Moore.

[@garymanis6305]

Octopussy!

[@DanFrederiksen]

Actually the piston versions aren't bad. It could do 373km/h cruise with a 70hp engine iirc. And hte jet in this one is a turbojet which is the hungry kind whereas a more modern turbofan can be quite efficient if you pressurized the bird and took it up. It could also be made lighter today than it is. With a modern jet engine, maybe a little longer body for stability and pressurized I wouldn't be surprised if it could do above 700km/h and have a range around 2000km. And tandem seating doesn't take much space so you could do a 2 seater without too much penalty. If you needed a plane to actually go places, it could go places. And if light it could probably do very short runways.

[@karlriley1314]

Why not show the BD5 prop plane also like you did for the jet.

[@darrellalexanderferguson6047]

yeeess more mojo for my night!!!!!

[@ronarmstrong835]

Neat little airplanes. The design is as old as I am. If I were shooting for long distance, I would build a long EZ. They have the equivalent of 40 MPG and can hold a lot of fuel.

[@Pushyhog]

Oh and production molds i have also. plane nowdays can be e-motor w/litium battery pack. On few years or so w/new batteries coming, there will be 1000 plus mile range. And put the long wing on it.

[@konstantinoskatomeris3851]

Thanks!

[@Cavalier-lp8tr]

You should have looked at the stats on the piston version, then maybe you would understand why some would prefer it over the jet.

[@blakjack3053]

You know, there are RC models being flown today that are actually larger than that!

[@anthonydouglascontares3471]

Saw this in popular science in 1971 in junior high school.

[@SecretHero914]

I'll hive u know that Plane was featured in the James Bond Movie Octopussy. This Model had Folding Wings

[@willjohnson211]

Better looking than the Sonex too

[@thenewedgegarage]

I have always loved the BD5. Unfortunately, i witness my friend crashing his BD5. I started flying in a AA1A with my dad. The AA1-series began as the BD1.

[@jasonalpha]

Really interesting plane. Thank you

[@troymcgrew9822]

If the engine on the SubSonex could work in the BD-5, that would be incredible.

[@RebelYell134]

I saw that Roger Moore , Bond movie when it first aired on tv. I thought that little jet was perfect for me. A ten year old kid at the time. Imagine!! like a 10 ft. jon boat with a 15 hp engine on the back

[@youtubetraveller9349]

why the air vents always close with the springy covers? Will they open themselves while the plane is flying? Is that not bad for aerodynamics because the springy covers resist air?

[@drones7838]

Friends dad died in one. Charles Lischer was the pilots name. These are used in Air Force testing for missile defense

[@kieyavorsky2188]

I hope you make a video on the BD4C

[@ohbogey]

I remember this as a popular aircraft in the 80s! In the opening scene of James Bond, Octopussy & on the airshow circuit as the Coors Light Silver Bullet jet piloted by Bob Bishop I think🤔 he was super nice to us kids, taxied right up, hopped out & lowered the rope keeping us back. He invited us to see his aircraft up close. It really made an impression on me as a lil kid! I kinda wanna see ur reaction to it being in the James Bond movie 😂

[@jeffmcdaniel7516]

Through the hanger flight was performed by Corky Fornof…..

[@edjohnson2333]

@@jeffmcdaniel7516 Actually no one flew "Through" the hangar. It was a purpose built Model, mounted on a carrier, that was pulled through a hanger in Britain. All the real flying was done in Hurricane, Utah. I was there.

[@ChiChi-dy9qi]

BD5 is my favourite aircraft of all time. I would pay way more than that to get one ... if I had the $$

[@lancecullinane2121]

Used them for motorcyckles to!

[@emergencylowmaneuvering7350]

And go karts too?

[@jhmcglynn]

My son overhauls APU engines. I tease him about bringing home a few parts at a time so we can build a jet engine👏👨‍✈️. Seems I recall a similar themed Johnny Cash song that’s about building a Car

[@harleywylie2909]

In the old TV series M.A.S.H., Radar was doing that with a Jeep; he was mailing one part at a time to his home address.

[@cmwsofasale2101]

Great observation. The TRS-18 engine in the original BD5J was developed as a turbojet to power the APU in the Concorde.

[@jaessongee9893]

I remember the first time I saw one ,it was in 'Octopussy ' a James Bond flick flown by a gentleman called Corby Thornoff I think. That was in early eighties or late seventies, something like that , I thought having a homebuilt jet was so cool but I never had the chance to see one fly though. Its a real pity. Thanks for the time to show us,though!!!! 😉🇦🇺

[@cmwsofasale2101]

That would be airshow & movie stunt pilot Corky Fornof. He and Bobby Bishop were Bede Aircraft test pilots and formed their own jet demonstration team after Bede folded.

[@jaessongee9893]

@@cmwsofasale2101 That's right.......I remember now Corky Fornof . That name brings back a lot of memories. I was reading in a magazine ( long before computers were around) about his father and Corky were flying back from an airshow in a couple F8's , I think it was over Rocky's , you'll have too excuse me , I'm not too were the Rocky's are , and about 3" of his wing took all the weight of his F8 and just snapped right then and there and his father of course went in and Corky went back to the field. It was such gut wrenching feeling ,I just cried reading the article. The next day Corky returned in his F8 and you know the Blues were out there when he taxied passed , each one standing to attention and saluting as he passed , then the Blues were flying A4 Skyhawks , so that should places us back in the late 70' s maybce , I don't know. And his father said somthing like ' Keep on going son ' or something to that effect. But it was so moving whatever it was.That magazine was one of the flying one nearly 40 years ago , I was year 8 or 9 when I read it , but I never forget it..........😀👍🇦🇺

[@yavoz.]

Please do a video on the BD4C

[@lashturner]

I saw one years ago in New Jersey at a air show and I think there was one a few years ago at Edward's Air Force base when they had a air show.

[@emergencylowmaneuvering7350]

Saw one at Sussex County Air Show. Small fly in the sky..

[@lashturner]

@@emergencylowmaneuvering7350 was that Pittston airport? I think that's where I saw one.

[@emergencylowmaneuvering7350]

@@lashturner Nope. No air show was at Pittstown. That was north at Sussex County Airshow. I think i saw it around 1994. No more airshows there. Insurance too high they say.

[@scottlyttle5586]

The blue vehicle in the background is a Pulse autocycle, also designed by Jim Bede. It's basically a motorcycle with outriggers equipped with wheels. Notorious for overheating, because there's not really any place to take in air to keep the engine cooled.

[@BedeBIngraham]

Scotty, you'll note that the blue Litestar adds the suffix "EV-1", as this is the electric version. No cooling issues.

[@scottlyttle5586]

@@BedeBIngraham I see "Litestar E-1", but now I'm intrigued to research it now..

[@kaelwichmann8018]

does it have reverse trust

[@Pushyhog]

show the green one too.

[@budipirang2694]

Wow very good

[@thammanoonkamfunt5470]

Excellent !

[@soundman1122]

You need to ask a few questions about who is Jim Beatty. Do a background on him is fascinated he designed this airplane

[@Seadog..C5]

Reverse thrusters?

[@duaneronan8199]

That type mini jet was featured in a very old James Bond 007 film. Starring Roger Moore, I believe.

[@Boz2131]

I had an RC one a few years ago

[@lesp315]

These are cool little planes if you want to die in style.

[@creightonfreeman8059]

I thought Bede Aircraft still had parts for the BD-5 even if they are not selling full kits anymore.....?

[@SithLord2066]

Only thing more scary than flying in this thing would be a Messerschmidt 163 rocket plane

[@dirtcop11]

The BD 5 was in a James Bond movie. They flew it through a hangar. I can't remember which movie it was but it was a hit.

[@azagoldtwin]

octopussy....

[@glynmatthews6697]

Similar to a sonics but five hundred times as cool man !

[@user-px1wj2uv3r]

I want to love it....

[@donaldgrant9067]

The BD5 ran into so many problems when he was trying to get this out to the public. Most was that the FAA wouldn't approve a piston engine for it. It finally bankrupt the company. But I see the FAA finally approved something for them. The original design had a V tail on it, but it flew like crap so he went with the design that you see. I remember even seeing a 4 setter version of it well drawings of it.

[@garrygballard8914]

You better be a dam good pilot to fly a BD-5. It’s really fast and small which will make it very sensitive to any movement of the stick. Pocket rocket Mike. They use to be in the air show back in the 70’s.

[@ingmarsen]

Not totally true you can't get these kits new today . The original kits yes , they're all used and maybe a few lying around but very difficult to build . A few finished jets around but yes will cost you $100,000 s for a near flying version . There is BD Micro who effectively have taken Jim Bede's design and modernized it and market it now as FLS Microjet . You won't have much change from about $200,000 !!!

[@АлександрРылов-ш2ж]

One of the best 👍👍👍🛩️🛩️🛩️

[@jameswest685]

Sweet!

[@okhera1]

VERY NICE!

[@CockpitScenes]

Hard to believe you were so clueless about the BD-5. It's almost like saying you never heard of a Piper Cub. This has been a classic for over 50 years. The exploits of the original designer are legend...

[@smithtorreysmith]

MojoGrip is awesome! Let’s give this generation a chance to experience aviation just like we did. I know a million airplane facts but HE is actually a pilot.

[@ttc4017]

Was this at Oshkosh?

[@WORKCLOCKT]

papa i want one🎩☕️

[@agus2939]

How much is one of those?

[@kaumohlamonyane272]

I don't know if I want to be going 300mph in that🤣

[@lizcords3237]

Aaron McClure is this what you have?

[@mikmadpro]

Dude, you’ve never heard of the BD-5J?

[@JEMPL27]

I know right? I thought the same thing🙉...

[@mikmadpro]

@@JEMPL27, I have to consider this- maybe I’m just an old fart.

[@JEMPL27]

@@mikmadpro ja!

[@armadasinterceptor2955]

But does it fly though.

[@walmartdog1142]

Was that a thrust reverser on the rear?

[@cmwsofasale2101]

Not a reverser but a cable actuated attenuator. The clam shell redirects the high idle thrust to the sides so the plane will slow to a reasonable landing speed.

[@edjohnson2333]

@@cmwsofasale2101 Actually, the brakes were just a couple of little pucks the size of a quarter. You needed the rear attenuator to slow down on landing. Without it the pucks would immediately overheat and glaze over.

[@cmwsofasale2101]

@@edjohnson2333 my dad used to think they stole his lawn mower wheels!

[@Arational]

It was in a Bond film

[@GabrielGomes-xt5kf]

Ele pode escapar de um míssil?

[@10lauset]

Cheers.

[@etherjoe505]

Do small jets like this use high bypass techniques ? Or is there a sort of minimum size for high bypass. Also maybe HBP wasn't ready in the 70s.

[@nateb19]

It’s turbojet, so no bypass.

[@BrokerLargeBusinessDeals]

FLS Microjet was selling these a numbe rof years ago and it was re engineered

[@lynnkramer1211]

BD 5s were originally a powered glider. They were never all that popular, but they were well loved by those who did build them. Many misconceptions expressed in this video. An off the cuff thing I guess.

[@jimydoolittle3129]

0:38 “ The sonex is similar “ 🤣🤣🤣 not even close , ,

[@brianpreston8483]

Only in size

[@pdutube]

He was referring to the Subsonex jet.

[@bulldog370a]

Anyone else feeling old as he "introduces" this aircraft?