What's New

On this page you'll find a record of changes and additions I've made to the web site, from the latest to the earliest.

September 2, 2006

Since the last update, a complaint was filed with the head of Flight Service in Washington, DC. The complaint was passed down for action, and to make a long story short, after a few slight changes, in two weeks I was able to accomplish what the San Juan office had sat on for TWO YEARS -- the maintenance plan has been accepted. Unfortunately, my DAR has turned out to be a flake. He stopped working back in May at the first sign of an obstacle, but started demanding more money for the retainer. He didn't do anything since then. Even when I told him the MIA FSDO had asked me to ask him to send the plan for review and acceptance, he didn't want to work on it, said he didn't want to waste the time if they gave more excuses, so I did it myself. Once that was done, I told him to send me a bill for the work done so far so I could pay him, and give me a fixed quote to come to SJU and do the inspection and paperwork. He refused, saying I had to pay more retainer first. Apparently this ex-FAA employee has yet to figure out the meaning of the word "retainer." I told him he needed to give me an invoice with hours and expenses and I would pay him, minus what I had already paid. He refused and proceeded to send me a stupid "denial of airworthiness letter," which I summarily refused, with copies to both the MIA FSDO and Washington FAA folks (with a full explanation of why I was refusing the denial, of course). At any rate, once he figures out what a retainer is, and what an invoice is, his money is here. Now I have to find a DAR all over again. I don't know what it is with some of these FAA and ex-FAA people -- do they even educate them on basic industry standard business terminology and procedures? Or is the US school system that is failing them? Anyway, the maintenance plan was the last piece of the puzzle I needed before the final airworthiness inspection and issuance of the certificate.

May 10, 2006

Since the last update, the aircraft has been moved to TJBQ/BQN, the old Ramey SAC AFB in Aguadilla, on very northwest corner of the island. It's got an 11,000 foot runway that's some 100 feet wide, if I remember correctly. The hangar is run by an FBO operation by the name of COPECA, plenty of room, and plenty of friendly people whose taste in music sucks, but such is life. I've taken care of a number of issues, such as the o-rings on the fuel line connectors (which stopped cold any remaining fuel leaks, that's where the last drops were coming from); changed the o-rings and greased the internals on the nosegear strut; a few other details. Now I have to empty the fuel tanks and flush the fuel that had been sitting there for months while I found a new place to work on the bird. I hired a DAR in January, and eventually fired the local FAA inspector from my airworthiness certification. Let me put it this way, the man is such an idiot, I caught him intimidating the mechanics that I had talked to to work on my jet and help me with the certification and maintenance so they wouldn't work with me. One caved in, the other one basically told him to take a hike. Needless to say, I've begun the process of initiating some sort of administrative action through the customer service organization at the FAA. And I'm not the only one who's had enough of these clowns in the San Juan office... when people found out I was bringing a DAR to San Juan, seven other aircraft (all two-seat ultralights to be converted to ELSA's) came out of the woodwork begging to join the process. And even that's not the end of the story, you should see the comments I hear from other operators at all levels. In the meantime, the entire San Juan FSDO has been closed and much of it disbanded. The office is now a "satellite facility" of the MIA FSDO-19. I was hoping that the inspector I had gotten stuck with would be shipped to Alaska, or maybe Guam, but he wasn't, so I fired him. Literally. The DAR is now working with the MIA FSDO to get approval of the maintenance plan for the jet, and once that's out of the way he'll be coming to PR to do the airworthiness.This weekend I'll be draining the tanks and replacing with fresh fuel. If the engine doesn't give me any grief, I'll be doing taxi testing.

October 23, 2005

After just a month short of four years of work, the BD-5J has been inspected by an A&P and is now airworthy! Woohoo! This is a major accomplishment which called for a celebration, which I no longer remember. <grin> The paperwork's going to the FAA next week to complete the airworthiness certificate and operating limitations work.

Click here to see the logbook pages with Adobe Acrobat!

August 12, 2005

A few weeks ago I was asked to bring the jet to a very popular TV show called "No Te Duermas" on Telemundo. The show was sporting completely new scenery in a new studio and they wanted to bring really interesting things, so they asked me to come in and show the jet. It was an interesting experience, something I had never done before. I recorded the show with Tivo and extracted the segment where we were interview. This is the URL, I suggest you open Windows Media Player and then ask it to open the URL, otherwise it takes forever for the browser to download the file, then play it.

Click here to play the "No Te Duermas" TV segment (Spanish only, no subtitles, sorry!)

May 30, 2005

I just got an email from someone who told me I had left everyone hanging from the cliff, so I thought I should update the page... Let's see... well, I left off with the wing repairs to plug another fuel leak, and I got that fixed with PRC and some more Buna-N treatment plus nearly two weeks of drying. I still have a leak somewhere but it only comes out like a drop a day or something like that. I can live with that. However, now I could not get the engine started, no matter what I tried. I pulled the homemade spill valve and found that it was a little sticky, so I cleaned it up and reinstalled it. No dice. In fact, at one point the fuel started siphoning through the engine and I had to disconnect the tanks. Turns out the spill valve was not set up correctly. I fixed that but I still couldn't start the engine. Several weeks passed until I finally figured out what it was. It appears Quentin did one of his specials and installed a Super Bosch spark plug rather than the original igniter, which was supposed to be an EYQUEM LCS50. That started another saga trying to find that. Turns out EYQUEM went out of business in 1975, and two companies split up its assets. One French company took the aviation side and a German company took the automotive side. The French company refused to answer any of my queries, until someone from France called. I should have expected that. Persistence paid off, and a Parisian who had asked for BD-5 drawings to make an RC model did me the favor of calling them. Their response was that they would reconsider starting production if I told them how many I needed. Well, I only needed one or two, so that was the end of that. Now I needed to find another solution. After a lot of research on the Internet I figured out that the EYQUEM igniters were also being used on the Turbomeca Arriel engines that Eurocopter helos use. The original Arriel turbine engine was certified a year after my engine was manufactured, and a year before EQYUEM went out of business. Microturbo is a division of Turbomeca, so I figured that the engineers must be designing the engines to use the same igniters, to save money and time. As it turns out, I was right. The Arriel engines used slightly modified versions of the same igniter. The LCS50 is longer than the ones used on the Arriel, but since on my engine a spacer is used to control the depth of insertion into the combustion chamber, I could have a machine shop make a new spacer. I found out that Champion made compatible igniters, so I went looking but could not find anything for less than $500. I tried in Australia, since the Squirrel helo they fly in Oz is a Eurocopter. No dice. I was getting pretty frustrated, when it dawned on stupid me that there are a bunch of Eurocopter models here in Puerto Rico, including one two hangars down from me. I walked over and there was the chief mech, watching the bird leave. We talked a bit, and he agreed to show me the igniter their engine uses (he had some he had pulled but not thrown away). Bingo. Same igniter, slightly shorter, with a different mounting flange. To make the story short, I ground the flange down and had machine shop make me a new spacer using the info that a friend gave me of the original spacer. It was a perfect fit... but now the ignition lead didn't work anymore. I needed a correct one for my exciter to match the igniter. Unison has one, but they wanted over $500 for it. Here we go again... Eventually I found out that all BD-5J ignition leads are custom made. Sure enough, I found a company in Alabama that makes ignition leads, and they agreed to work me with to design and build one. Total cost is $321 + S&H and I should receive it next week. Unfortunately, during this time the company that rented the hangar in which I had the jet had financial problems and turned over the hangar to the owner. The new owner told me I had to leave. He sympathized, but there was no room. So I took everything out and brought it home, the airplane is my interior driveway in the building I live in. The only thing left at the airport is the toolbox, and I better go get that, it's been sitting there too long. Now I'm trying to find a place to go, and the only option I have at the moment is an airport with no fuel. And the wooden floor on the trailer now needs to be replaced. It's like I take one step forward and two steps back. But, we're getting there. Now the FAA is hounding me to finish the inspection so they can give me the airworthiness certificate. What a concept, the FAA after me to get me to do this, after months of waiting for them to get in gear.

August 28, 2004

It has been an... well... let's just say it's been an interesting week. A week ago Friday I pulled the aircraft out of the hangar to test the turbine with the new 10-516000-1 Unison/Bendix ignition exciter. I finally got the right one installed in the airplane, and the minute I charged the batteries and flicked the switch, it was like watching Emeril... BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! Five LOUD ignition plug firings per second. Yes! Darn thing puts out a blue plasma spark at least an inch long. So we get the airplane out, fuel it and start it. It ran on the second try once I adjusted the fuel boost pump pressure setting. However, it ran a bit rough and cut out at 42%. We tried it again a couple of times and got reliable starts, but 42% was as far as it would go. After a couple of no-go starts, I noticed oil coming out of the engine burner can drain, so I stopped what I was doing. Later on we confirmed that the engine oil sump was too full and the engine was just kicking out the extra fluid. Not exactly the kind of thing you want to see when you don't know where it's coming, know what I mean? Unfortunately, when we went to put the aircraft back in the hangar, we put it behind one of the aircraft so we could take out the other and get mine in. When the hangar mechanic went to push out the C411, though, he didn't wait for a wingwalker, and didn't look. He plowed the rear tip of the left wingtip tank into my vertical stab and ran it completely through. After tense moments and a lot of disbelief, I was relieved to see that even though there was a 2"x 3" hole in the skin, he didn't hit the spar or ribs. The mech and his partner are master sheet metal folks, so they will fix the damage shortly. The aircraft is now located at TJIG (Isla Grande) because I had to return the space to the hangar owner. If you are in Puerto Rico you can now visit and take a look at the jet if you want to. Email me to arrange an appointment. We will be running up the engine next week after applying some PRC to a pinhole fuelleak at the spar attach point on the right wing.

August 8, 2004

Holy cow. It's been more than two years since I posted an update! I gotta stop putting this off for so long. Ok, so, on to the updates. Let's see.... I decided to move to Puerto Rico so I sent my wife and son back to the island so he could get back into the top-notch private parochial school where my family, dad, cousins, uncles, everyone went. That was in August of 2003. Between June 02 and August 03 not a whole lot went on other than working on the jet, upgrading the panel, taking the engine out, installing new oil and fuel pressure sensors, putting it back in, removing the tail pipe, unwrapping the asbestos and properly disposing it, and wrapping it in 2300F fiberfrax blanket, installing the Alturair strut and the Matco wheels and brakes (and screwing things up by putting in Skydrol into the system, so I had to replace the seals and brake fluid reservoir and flush the system thoroughly). Then in December of 2003 I finally sold my house in Euless, Texas (photofinish, the Heartland Lloyds was leaving the Texas market and leaving me and many other people high and dry for homeowner's insurance) and moved to Puerto Rico. I did my own moving and transport arrangements, saved at least $5,000-$6,000. I had to make two trips, though. I had already sent one car to PR (drove it to Jacksonville and flew back) then I had most everything packed into the biggest U-haul I could find, took it to a freight consolidator and had that shipped along with the jet in a 45 foot container. Then in January I went back, got the rest of the my stuff into a small U-haul and drove it and my Dodge truck to Florida, dropped the stuff at the freight forwarder and took the truck to the barge company, then flew home. I had most everything in storage for a few months until we snagged the apartment we wanted, right in front of my son's school, and with an option to buy to boot. I'm still unemployed, trying to makes ends meet and 50% down on my 401k, but things are looking much better. The jet is in a hangar at SJU, Luis Muñoz Marín International airport, in a private hangar from which it has to be removed, and soon. I can't find any decent hangar space to rent near the house, so I may have to take it to an airport much farther away from home. I have completed all the work that needed to be done except the replacement of the ignition exciter and a throttle quadrant friction lock issue... I lost a piece of it and it doesn't "friction" properly. I finally picked up the proper ignition exciter this week, as well as a custom built one that a German engineer named Thomas B. made for me. VERY cool work. I like his much better than the Bendix unit, which I finally found (the right one) on eBay thanks to John Lewis. THANK YOU JOHN. He tirelessly looked up ignition exciters until he found EXACTLY the one I needed. Ok, so now I have the correct ignition exciter, the friction lock issue is minimal, talked to the local FSDO and they will inspect my airplane as soon as I am ready, which will be very soon, also talked to them about the license to fly it (no more LOA's, BD-5J requires an experimental type rating according to AC 8700.24, so does BD-10). It looks... tentatively, but very positively... that the airworthiness inspection will be done this month, and we may begin taxi testing soon, either late this month or in September. Oh, I'm also now the weekend news Associate Editor for Aero-News Network!

June 10, 2002

Well, another year goes by and I finally get around to do an update. Let's see... since June of last year I went to OSH and was promptly hospitalized due to my gall bladder going south on me. It had to be taken out along with a rock about 1/2 inch in diameter, and I spent four days in bed, then I went back to the show and spent a day on a golf cart going back and forth the airfield. At least I went to OSH for the first time ever... then we had the Expo 2001, which was a great success, lots of people came, we had a good turnout, Skeeter gave his presentation on how to put together an FLS-5 fuselage, and everyone enjoyed a catered full-course Puertorican dinner (everyone except Joe Pevey, who said he wouldn't eat boiled green bananas, something about his religion...). Everything was going great until September 11. My mom calls and says New York is under attack by kamikazes, I ask here why in the world would the Japanese do that, and she tells me to turn on the TV. I'm still stunned... Soon after that I purchased Quentin Campbell's BD-5J and shipped it from Australia to Dallas. However, on November 26 I was hospitalized in critical condition at HEB Harris Methodist with pancreatitis. I stopped breating, twice, had to be tubed to a breating machine and was put on an NPO diet, no food and no water for more than a week. Not exactly a very pleasant experience. I got out of that two weeks later and 55 lbs lighter, then took care of the final details of the purchase of the jet, and then suffered a common sequel to pancreatitis, a pancreatic pseudocyst, where the pancreas starts shooting fluid into the abdomen. By the time I was hospitalized again at Zale Lipshy in Dallas, I had two gallons of fluid in my belly and the doc said I now know what it feels like to be pregnant. The fluid was drained, but it was infected so I had to go into the OR to get opened, remove debris and additional fluid and be packed with gauze. Three more trips to the OR were required to remove and replace the gauze. I finally got out of that sometime in early January. A few days after I got home I was there for a few days then I developed severe chest pain and was hospitalized again. Blocked artery in my heart, requiring a stent and two days in bed. Doc said I did not suffer a heart attack, but it was a warning that I need to change my diet (which I had already done). The jet arrived in January and I've been working on it ever since, little by little, getting it ready for the airworthiness inspection and first flight. In the meantime I finished 12 weeks of cardiac rehab at the local hospital-affiliated gym, and have recovered from everything. I quit smoking since November and have gained weight, but mostly muscle. That's the short update. If you need more details, check the message archives on the BD5 area at YahooGroups.

June 1, 2001

Geez, 8 months between updates. Not good. Well, there are lots of news since November... The Expo 2001 is scheduled for the same location at the Vintage Flying Museum at FTW, info is available from the link on the home page. The place is huge, the people are friendly, lots of aircraft to see including one of the few airworthy B-17G's (I think it's the only airworthy Pathfinder B-17G but I am not sure). We only need about 60 people to break even, last year we had a little more than that, so if we can do the same this year we should be OK. The Bulletin is in the mail to all subscribers. This one is issue 27-28, January to June 2001. I did it that way to catch up with the issue 26 delay, but it only counts as one for subscription purposes. As far as my BD-5 is concerned, after much research I decided to modify the engine mount to add two riser bars and remove the spacers between the mount and the forward Lord resilient mounts. The spacer and the riser bars are the same height so I should be able to mount the engine and get it aligned with little trouble. The hard part is going to be modifying the connection from the engine flywheel to the lower pulley. It's going to require a new setup because the flywheel on the AMW engine has changed (at my request, I just didn't know it would change so radically). The flywheel now has a hard rubber insert into which another piece fits with rubber legs. However, the outside of that piece is a steel insert with an inner thread. It's going to do a great job of absorbing vibrations, but I need to change the engine-side of the connecting piece that transmit power to the lower pulleys. Other things I've done: all instruments have been overhauled and recalibrated, except the ones to be replaced (like the huge RPM indicator. The instrument panel is gone, to be replaced by a new one. The comm radio is gone, to be replaced by a Microair 2-1/4" radio and a Microair transponder (supposed to be out in October). The nav radio and indicator stays unless I can find a good buy on a Narco 121 or 122 with glideslope and marker beacon. The electrical system wiring is going to be redone as well this summer, along with the zillion little details that still have to be done. The nutplates on the center spar of the horizontal stab have to be replaced, two of them came completely off. The original fiberglass landing gear was removed to install the new Alturair all-metal struts, saving a pound of weight and greatly simplifying the struts. Oh, yeah, I also moved from one hangar to another, I got an offer to hangar the plane at Nova Avionics at the same airport (52F, Northwest Regional Airport at Roanoke, TX, largest privately-owned airport in the US) for free! That's where I do contract work for Bill and Betty, doing avionics installs and general electrical and avionics work. Nice people. I guess Bill just wants to see me more often. The mailing list is doing great, 312 members. It gets slow at times but that's normal. One other piece of very interesting news is that Jim Bede is considering producing an updated and redesigned BD-5, which he calls the Super BD-5. He's going to do a talk about it and the BD-17 Nugget at Oshkosh, and I'll be there to cover it for Aero-News Network, for whom I'm writing as a hobby. In fact, if I get lucky I'll be going there in a Stearman that Olde Tyme Aircraft has restored, the owner wants to sell it, and what better way than taking it to OSH. The aircraft is gorgeous, an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. Well, that's it for now, stay tuned for more, hopefully not 8 months from now!

November 21, 2000

It's been a while since the last update. We had the BD-5 Expo 2000 at the Vintage Flying Museum at Meacham Field, Fort Worth, Texas. It was a great success, with people coming in from as far as the United Kingdom. We had several distinguished guests, including Jim Bede, Corkey Fornof, Skeeter Karnes, Gerry Kauth and many others. We even had a raffle, and Ed Williams won himself a Hirth F20 55hp two-stroke engine.
Issue 25 of the Bulletin was mailed, and was well received. Issue 26 is in progress as I type this. It's going to be a little late, probably in December, due to my other responsibilities.
I have moved my aircraft to a hangar at Northwest Regional Airport in Roanoke, Texas (52F). This will allow me to perform the final tasks that I need to do before I fly the aircraft, including installatio of the engine, upgrade of the drive system, filling, sanding, priming, modification of the electrical system and checking of all instruments.

April 2, 2000

Lots of things have happened since January. The BD-5 Bulletin is back in print, and the first issue (#23, Jan-Mar 2000) was mailed to all the members of record on the BD-5 Network database with valid addresses. If you didn't get a copy, you can either email me or go to the Bulletin repository page and download it in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF). If you don't have Acrobat, you can get it from the same page, just click on the icon. Rich Perkins has turned over the reins of both the Network and Bulletin to me, and we will be publishing the Bulletin quarterly, as before. The classified section now has jets for sale! The Bede Litestar has been sold to a TV and movie actor in California who has been looking for one since he was a kid.
The Millenium Expo 2000 is being organized as you read this. Two potential sites are available in October; Alliane Airport in Ft Worth and Arlington Municipal Airport in Arlington. Both airports are minutes from DFW International Airport in Texas. Both sites will also be hosting an airshow or open-house at the same time as the BD-5 Expo. More info as it becomes available.

January 6, 2000

Welcome to the 21st Century and the New Millenium! We now have the 1970's Bede Design series in the library. Thanks to David Anderson for the scans! We are still missing some, so if you have the ones we need, here's your chance for fame and glory!

December 16, 1999

A new picture page of the mysterious Bede LiteStar vehicle is now available off the picture gallery page.

October 24, 1999

The BD-5 Bookstore is now open. It's tiny right now, but it will grow.

October 21, 1999

I have just added the official flight test report on the BD-5 as presented by Les Berven, chief test pilot at Bede Aircraft, to the reference library.

May 23, 1999

Information for the Texas BD-5 Pocket Rocket Show is now available from the main page. Also, I have posted the first pictures of the finished BD-5 that I have bought. The pictures are not up to date, but are the only pictures I have at this time. More to come after I pick up the aircraft from California in it's custom BD-5 trailer and drive it to Texas with my son.

April 3, 1999

I have finally made arrangements to purchase another BD-5. This one is finished, and is missing only the engine. Needs refurbishing, as it hasn't been flying for some time now, but it looks like I may be flying sometime before the end of the year. More details and pics as they become available.

January 13, 1999

I am now all settled in in my new home in the city of Euless, Texas. Little by little I'm catching up with my email and web maintenance. The mailing list now has a new home site, OneList.Com. For the new information, see the mailing list link off the home page. I'm also looking for a new kit, unstarted, to begin working again on building a BD-5. Got any leads? Let me know!

September 20, 1998

Mr. Rolando Benitez of Guatemala has scanned and OCR'd a 1973 article from Private Pilot magazine for the web site. We are very excited about this article, because it has many pictures and information that we had not seen before. It is available in the reference library section.

August 19, 1998

This past weekend I got my multiengine rating at Rockair Aviation in Watkins, Colorado. They are located at the Front Range Airport, some 5 miles or so SE or Denver International (exit 295 off I-70). If you're going to be in the area and would like to get some training, I highly recommend this outfit. Very professional, with very well-maintained aircraft (C152, C172, C177, C310 and more!).

August 1, 1998

Did you know that the original BD-5 prototype, N500BD, was a v-tail design made out of composite materials (fiberglass) around a frame made out of aluminum angles? Check out the new pics that have been added to the first six information memos. I finally got around to picking up a page scanner to process all the images I have in my stack of historical BD-5 material. A bit at a time (this is very time-consuming process) I will be scanning the pictures -- mostly black and white -- in the information memos, newsletters, etc. I will also be scanning things like the mandatory PCN's, though I'm not sure how to handle the oversized pages.

June 10, 1998

Got new information about the BD-10 prototype crash. Turns out that was the second crash, the first was fatal for the pilot as well. See the link in the reference library area for more information.

April 4, 1998

Took the instrument rating written test today, passed it with a score of 90 in some 34 minutes. Mentor makes a great multimedia course!

March 14, 1998

New section! Classified ads! Free! Enjoy!

February 7, 1998

More pictures! I've posted some pictures from the Jan to February period. I've also posted a new link in the picture library (etc.) area of the results of a match between a Convair cargo plane and a FedEx Caravan. Not a pretty sight. Certainly not for the weak of stomach.

February 5, 1998

The BD-5 Mailing list is now a reality. Subscribers can use the list to hold conversations and discussions about any subject related to the BD-5 (any model). If you would like to subscribe, click here for instructions.

December 9, 1997

Finally! The pictures from the BD-5 Expo, Oct 11-12, at Attitude Aviation, Livermore Airport, California, are available! Also, new construction pictures from September through December 1997, and pictures of the Skymaster that's advertised for sale on the home page!

September 6, 1997

An absolutely stunning picture of the Bud Light BD-5J has been added to the BD-5 picture library. Check it out!

August 26, 1997

More construction pictures added for the month of August. These show progress in fuselage construction; nose, cockpit, etc.

August 11, 1997

Removed all .GIF files and replaced them with .JPG files to reduce space requirements and accelerate downloads of images.

July 24, 1997

Added a page about Richard Bach's comments on Jim Bede and the BD-5, as posted in rec.aviation.homebuilt by Steve Kerry of Yorkshire of the UK. He also provided the GREAT scan of Richard Bach jumping out of his BD-5J. At long last, the first construction pictures are available on the site. There's only three right now, I have more being developed and hopefully I'll have them scanned and in the site next week.
Added two links to Picture Gallery, Library, Specifications and Aviation Information menu page. The first provides an instant search link into the NTSB Aviation Database for all accidents that have been recorded in the NTSB database for Puerto Rico since 1983. The second does the same, but for incidents rather than accidents.

July 13, 1997

Changed all the backgrounds on the pages to make them more readable and easier on the eyes.

July 7, 1997

Added web links to some of the pictures shown in the Sun-N-Fun picture gallery, and corrected some of the texts describing the aircraft.

July 4, 1997

Added the information about the modification that Harry Riblett designed for the BD-5, to modify the NACA 64-212 wing root airfoil. It is supposed to improve stall handling as well as other characteristics of the aircraft.

June 28, 1997

Added Information Memo No. 2 to the reference library.

June 26, 1997

Added Information Memo No. 4 to the reference library. Also added new entry to the construction update section, as well as one small addition to the tools and supplies page.

June 25, 1997

BD-5 Information Memo No. 3 is now in the library. No. 2 is almost done, but it's -long- (has a large FAQ list for the BD-5), so I'm leaving it for last.
I am looking for a copy of Chapter 7 of the BD-5 Construction Profile (Flight Controls Rigging). I know it is available from a couple of vendors, but I'd like to know if anyone visiting the site has a copy of Chapter 7 and would be so kind as to loan it to me for a few days so I could have it photocopied locally. If you have it and would be willing to loan it to me, please e-mail me for arrangements.

June 24, 1997

Mr. Dale Bohannon, owner of Pushy Galore, contacted me today and let me know that I had incorrectly identified the picture in the Sun-N-Fun pics section of the web site as being his aircraft. It is not, the aircraft pictured is the late Lars Giertz' VmaxProbe, which crashed on first flight. Mr. Giertz, who was not wearing a safety helmet at the time, suffered traumatic head injuries at the time and passed away some 6 hours later. The caption under the picture has been corrected. My sincere condolences to the Giertz family.
We just received copies of Information Memo's 1 through 4 from Mr. Ken Trager of California. I will be transcribing those shortly for additional to the reference library. Information Memo #1 is now available.

June 21, 1997

Today was the first day of actual construction. See Construction Updates. Also, added even more items to the supplies and tools list.

June 19, 1997

Added supplies section to required and optional tool list.

June 16, 1997

Added required and optional tool list for BD-5 construction to reference library.

June 8, 1997

Finally finished typing in the last article of the "Flying" magazine series, the one about the Hirth engine.

June 6, 1997

Typed most of the "Flying" magazine articles, missing one that will be typed and posted this weekend. Posted what's already done on the web site.

June 4, 1997

Added more of the "Flying" magazine articles. I have now determined they were published in the September 1973 issue.

June 3, 1997

Added "Flying" magazine review of BD-5, 1973.

June 2, 1997

Added Confidential BD-5 Customer Newsletters, dated 3/6/72 and 5/5/72, to library.

May 25-31, 1997

Added the Sport-Air Price List. Added the Customer Information Bulletins, 1-4. (Very valuable information, particularly the construction Quick Tips). Added a letter about new marketing manager. Modified the home page.
Added the Construction Status page.

From day 1 to May 24, 1997

Over the last few weeks I've typed in a large number of documents. The largest changes have been to the reference library, where little by little I am adding all the reference information that came from the previous owner of my kit, Mr. Bud Lloyd of Boise, Idaho. Thank goodness Mr. Lloyd was so diligent about keeping the relevant information well-organized and in excellent condition.

As I find the time I will add even more information to the reference library, including magazine reviews and anything else I can lay my hands on. I've also added more pictures of Bede aircraft, as well as a link to a page that has pictures of a Catalina that visited Puerto Rico and which has a very interesting history.