[quote]ORIGINAL: slojo
sfsjkid,
Well it is nice to see the BD-5 Bug has revived itself in you.
So, you’re going to go with the Glo engine Drive shaft. I have switch over to almost all-electric power recently and plan on it to power my Future planes. I would like to see the Glo version finally done by someone.
The Goldberg retract are really some of the toughest ever made, I used them in two pattern aircraft that saw a lot of use over the years and never had a failure of the gear. I wonder about the nylon’s integrity after all these years.
A 1/4 scale model of the BD-5D from Jim Bede was used for the development of Palmer’s BD-5D drawings. I know that Jim used local modelers to build and fly R/C BD-5 models to do design test rather than risk the full size BD-5′s.
The D model was to be a production aircraft and quite number were actually order, but the company went under before any were actually produced other than the demo.
To my knowledge these are the versions produced by Bede aircraft:
BD-5 Micro – First prototype with V tail
BD-5A – Short wing pusher
BD-5B – Long wing Pusher
U.S.A.F. BD-5 – BD-5 version built for study by the U.S.A.F. for a Low cost jet trainer and drone aircraft.
BD-5D – Production BD-5B
BD-5S – Sailplane
BD-5J – Jet
BD-5T – Trainer Simulator mounted on a truck
There are more versions produced by others that were mostly power plant variations and modifications.
The reason for the BEDE Aircraft company’s failure was that Jim was not able to find a suitable engine for the aircraft as designed. This is still a problem today. Had a suitable engine been developed, the history of the BD-5 might be completely different.
As far as the wing mounting on the Palmer model, I have not looked at the plans, but my guess is Palmer located it in the scale location while using conventional model wing design. The real BD-5 uses a full length Main tubular spar that also is part of the removable wing setup. My plans are in storage at the moment so I cannot be sure. It sounds like a modification might be a good idea.
As mention in an earlier post, I am working on the BD-10J. I hope to have one done this year.
Joe
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Hey Joe to see you still around. Remember though, the bug may be the 24hr kind
Thanks for the additional info. The retracts do still look ok but I’ll try to give it a good test before I decide to use them. Good point about the nylon. Yup, the wing mount is going to get a second tube near the trailing edge. Would like to use a thicker one in the center but don’t think that is possible with retracts.
I really did give electric a chance. I had a couple of motors picked out, one might have fit in the tail cone just barely. While I was mulling that out started looking for shaft couplers, but couldn’t find anything rated beyond 3000rpm. I was also trying to figure where best to put a lipo pack and vents for cooling, while still allowing for full cockpit detail. Then I realized that I don’t have anything that will go beyond 4s, and well, there were too many questions to answer. Mind you, I’m not saying its impossible, just where I left off, before looking at the plans further.
The shaft drive in the plans started looking relatively simple once I realized how the K&B prop hub worked. Hearing that the fiberglass version(?) has flown more than described, I might just follow the plans setup between the engine and shaft. I didn’t trust it, but have yet to find a suitable coupler in terms of rpm, flex and alignment. As I mentioned earlier, since I did buy a small lathe, right now my main concern on the shaft is my aircraft mechanic friend coming through with the weld job.
I’ve been looking at your BD10 thread from time to time, can’t wait until you get it flying (or at least some pics, hint, hint)
See ya!