View Full Version : Red Bull Bede jet crash, sadly pilot died.
NutLoose
2nd May 2013, 08:47
See
Bede BD-5J (The Flying Bulls) crash near Innsbruck | Airplane-Pictures.net @AirplanePics (http://www.airplane-pictures.net/news.php?p=1270)
Steve6443
2nd May 2013, 18:42
Sad, saw this plane in Hangar 7 when I stopped over at Salzburg last year.....
Jetblu
2nd May 2013, 20:18
Very Sad. I saw a BD 5 flying in over Salt Lake many years ago, approx 1000ft
feet above us in the cruise and it was a fast.
I am sure there was a pusher prop version too but they were tricky and never held a very good safety record jet or prop
Pace
wsmempson
4th May 2013, 08:13
Awfully sad for all concerned; I seem to remember that some years ago the UK CAA withdrew the permit to fly from all the BD5 derivations, on the grounds that at least 50% of those built were involved in accidents. What may have seemed like an over-reaction at the time, looks like a prescient decision today.
LowNSlow
5th May 2013, 08:33
There was also an issue with the lack of pilot protection in a gear up or excessively "firm" landing as evidenced with the spinal injuries in a gear up landing in NZ a few years back.
Silvaire1
5th May 2013, 14:22
It is sad when somebody is killed doing something spectacular with skill.
I would have thought that anybody looking at a BD5 could understand that it's not going to be a Cherokee to fly, and that you wouldn't want to crash in the thing. Most of the pilot reports I've seen say it is actually milder than it looks.
Obviously the mid-70s BD5 saga is one of the best known in aviation. A lot of people lost their deposit money. That said, and despite having no piston engine that would work, it launched the modern homebuilt aircraft industry and changed everything that followed in that way. Burt Rutan started his career sorting out the BD5 aerodynamics and testing, subsequently going on to do the same thing better under his own control, with real engines.
The BD5 was a program that pushed every boundary. It doesn't make it a good aircraft (you don't see a whole lot of them in the pattern on most Sundays ;) ) but it was surely significant in terms of changing everything that followed.
maxred
5th May 2013, 16:35
I would have thought that anybody looking at a BD5 could understand that it's not going to be a Cherokee to fly, and that you wouldn't want to crash in the thing. Most of the pilot reports I've seen say it is actually milder than it looks.
I got a close look at it at Oshkosh last year. I also saw it displayed twice, by a very competent pilot. I thought it looked extremely 'experimental", and I remember thinking that it was like a jet powered Gee Bee. Obviously it would appear that it has the same track record, and a handful.
Sad for this pilot, but he obviously new the risks with it, and knew that if it went pear shaped, not a lot of recovery room, nor protection.
A few years back at Oshkosh, I spent a lot of time talking with a pilot who had built the most beautiful looking Ryan. Fully polished metal, lovingly built. He said it was pig to fly. Looked great. He died on the way home, ploughing it into a field. He was aware of the risks......
Silvaire1
5th May 2013, 17:29
A few years back at Oshkosh, I spent a lot of time talking with a pilot who had built the most beautiful looking Ryan. Fully polished metal, lovingly built. He said it was pig to fly. Looked great. He died on the way home, ploughing it into a field. He was aware of the risks......
Hughes H-1 Racer, 2003?
maxred
5th May 2013, 20:06
Yes, Silvaire, sorry that was the one. Guy wore a straw hat and spoke long and lovingly about the machine.
bio161
5th May 2013, 20:16
the pilot was a SFO on the A340 fleet at Deutsche Lufthansa. He had wife and kids..RIP and fly high! :( :( :(
MAXRED. I was at Oshkosh on that occasion. Beautiful aircraft. I have some video that I took of it somewhere............ I knew about the accident. Very sad. It was going to be used in the film 'The Aviator' but the filmmakers had to resort to CGI unfortunately.