History Brief, by Johan Visschedijk December 11, 2003

Bede XBD-2

Jim Bede and his father James Bede with the intention to develop and produce in series light aircraft formed Bede Aircraft in 1961. Bede's first design XBD-2 was a twin-engined high-lift pusher STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) research aircraft. The innovating features of this design, were a aluminum honeycomb construction, glass fiber main landing gear, two engines stacked in the rear fuselage driving a shrouded propeller, and a wing with suction BLC (boundary layer control). Under contract to Bede, the Aerophysics Department of Mississippi State University did the initial design study for the BLC system. In the wing upper surface 164,000 holes were drilled, varying from 0.020 to 0.029 in (0.5 to 0.737 mm), to suck the air from the wing and discharge it rearwards through thrust augmentors. In between test flights the system was slightly modified to improve performance and facilitate the manufacture of the system for eventual production aircraft. The company's prototype N327BD flew for the first time on July 26, 1961, and made most flights with only a pilot and the remaining cabin space filled with test equipment. The XBD-2 accomplished about 50 hours of flying before being retired and donated to the EAA Museum at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bede BD-3 and BD-7 were based on the XBD-2, and some parts were used in later models, but no further XBD-2 were build. XBD-2 Dan Shumaker Collection Specifications Type: Four-seat STOL research aircraft Engine: Two 145 hp Continental O-300-A six-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled piston engines Span: 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) Length: 23 ft 8.5 in (7.23 m) Height: 12 ft 4.75 in (3.78 m) Wing area: 150 sq.ft (13.94 sq.m) Max T/O Wt: 3,300 lb (1,497 kg) Max speed: 204 mph (328 km/h) at sea level Max climb: 1,050 ft (320 m)/min, one engine out 720 ft (219.5 m)/min Ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,401 m), one engine out 14,500 ft (4,420 m) Models XBD-2: prototype only