Jim Bede Is Back With A New Design! | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.06.25

AirborneNextGen-
10.07.25

Airborne-Unlimited-10.08.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-10.09.25

AirborneUnlimited-10.10.25

Sat, Aug 02, 2014

Jim Bede Is Back With A New Design!

Designing Airplanes For Over 55 Years, Jim Bede Unveils The BD22L

By Tom Woodward

Once called “The best damned airplane designer in the world” by Learjets Bill Lear, James R. Bede has designed and built more planes, received more awards, holds more patents and has garnered more attention than nearly anyone else in the aviation industry.

 Bede’s list of aviation design achievements is staggering: 18 innovative aircrafts that include standouts such as the exciting piston-engined BD-5 pusher and BD-5J mini-jet, which have both thrilled a generation of air-show crowds; the twin-finned fighter-like BD10, designed to hustle a flying executive across the country at supersonic speeds; and the extreme long range BD-2 ( in which Jim broke three distance records and took a shot at a solo globe-circling record in 1969) is strikingly similar to the Kelly Johnson-designed U-2 spy plane.

Of the 15 Bede designed models, 11 are no longer in production. The BD-17L is the LSA version of the original BD-17, single seat aircraft and uses half inch honeycomb sandwich panels, a concept originally used in the BD-1 and the Yankee.

With the just introduced BD22L, Bede has attempted to answer the needs of his customers by giving them what they asked for such as;

  • A wide cockpit
  • State of the art avionics package
  • A low build time
  • Low maintenance and operating cost and
  • Choice of power plant

Although a prototype can be seen at the Bede booth on the North part of homebuilders headquarters, specifications were scarce on the website. This much is known; the cabin is 47' wide, among the industries widest. Fuel capacity is 30 gallons and the airplane is capable of flying with the canopy open. The prototype uses a low cost avionic suite comprised of a pair of panel mounted iPads pared with an iLevil to feed the gyro functions. The range is anticipated to be 600 NM and the BD22L can accept engines from 80HP to 120HP. Prices currently are $89,950 which includes everything but paint.

FMI: www.bedecorp.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.13.25): Homing [ICAO]

Homing [ICAO] The procedure of using the direction-finding equipment of one radio station with the emission of another radio station, where at least one of the stations is mobile, >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.13.25)

Aero Linx: European Regions Airline Association (ERA) The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) represents a diverse membership of over 50 airlines and more than 150 associate>[...]

ANN FAQ: Q&A 101

A Few Questions AND Answers To Help You Get MORE Out of ANN! 1) I forgot my password. How do I find it? 1) Easy... click here and give us your e-mail address--we'll send it to you >[...]

NTSB Prelim: CubCrafters Carbon Cub

While On Short Final, About 300 Ft, The Pilot Performed A Forced Landing Near Trees On September 7, 2025, about 0932 eastern daylight time, a CubCrafters Carbon Cub EX airplane, N4>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.14.25): Severe Icing

Severe Icing The rate of ice accumulation is such that ice protection systems fail to remove the accumulation of ice and ice accumulates in locations not normally prone to icing, s>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC