From: ginsberg@t.Stanford.EDU (Matthew L. Ginsberg)
Subject: BD-10 newsletter
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 05:24:31 GMT

Summer 1992 issue of BD-10 News  (vol 4, no. 2)

reprinted with permission

BD-10 makes maiden flight July 8, 1992

First flight report

The BD-10 lifted off of Runway 30 at Mojave Airport, CA at 7:59 a.m on
Wednesday, July 8 1992.

Here is a report on that historic flight and the flight testing that
preceded it:

BD-10 Serial Number One, N2BD, arrived at Mojave, California on
Friday, May 29, 1992.  The aircraft was transported by truck from the
Bede Jet Corporation's facility at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in
Chesterfield, Missouri.  Mr. Ed Gillespie, Director of Flight
Operations and Chief Test Pilot was accompanied by four engineering
technicians.

The aircraft was reassembled and final instrumentation and avionics
were installed.  The aircraft was prepared for painting which was
completed by June 12.  On June 14th two engine runs were performed and
checks for fuel leaks were completed.

A series of taxi tests with various settings of the anti-servo tab of
the stabilizer were performed.  Additional test were performed with
the tab connected and disconnected.  These tests were necessary to
determine proper trim conditions elevator stick forces.

After several days of fairly high winds, we found that on Tuesday,
June 16th the winds were calm.  We decided to evaluate nose wheel lift
off and longitudinal stick forces while airborne.  Leading edge and
trailing edge flaps were both at zero degrees.  With 90 percent engine
RPM (about 50 percent thrust) the aircraft accelerated down the runway
and rotated at about 90 KIAS (knots indicated air speed).  It was
estimated the aircraft flew at about a 20 foot altitude above the
runway for approximately two to three thousand feet.

It was found the the elevator trim setting required a continuous
forward stick pressure and that longitudinal stability was light.  A
second flight was made after the trim tab change and with the aircraft
having about 1000 pounds of fuel remaining, the aircraft rotated at
about 85 KIAS.

Several things were learned from these two brief flights.  First, the
aircraft was flying at considerably lower speeds than expected in a no
flap configuration.  This was calculated to be lift coefficients of
1.6 which is quite high for a thin, swept back wing.  Because of this,
the light longitudinal stability and the trim tab adjustments, it was
determined that the fuselage and leading edge extensions were
contributing significantly more lift than previously anticipated.  It
was also determined that it was necessary to move the aircraft CG
forward to compensate for this forward lift component.

On June 17th, with tear weight installed in the nose, we proceeded
with additional taxi and nose wheel lift off tests.  At 60 KIAS,
positive static stick force and position was noted with 15 pounds push
required at full forward stick position and 10 pounds pull force
required at full aft stick.  We knew we had pretty much solved the
problem.

At the end of this taxi run we discovered a whole new problem when the
machined left landing gear trunnion fractured and the left landing
gear collapsed.

While Ed was shutting down the engine and applying heavy right brake
the aircraft slid to the left completing a 270 degree turn at the
intersection of two runways.  The left wing tip, stabilizer tip, left
aileron and left ventral were replaced.

It was found that the machined trunnion had a highly stressed section
and that lower strength alloy and probably inadequate heat treat were
the cause of the failure.  Although the repair and replacement of
parts for the airframe only required three to four days, the time
required to locate material of the proper allow and machining of new
trunnions was three weeks.

We were given fantastic support by many and Electromotive, the company
that did the machining, actually had their crew working every day
through the July 4th weekend, but we lost two more days when the
earthquake disrupted the heat treating process.

Finally, on July 6th the aircraft was ready.  But winds were 15 knots
with an 80 degree crosswind on the runway we wanted to use.  On July
7th the winds were still high, however, we made one more lift off down
the runway.  We were relatively satisfied with trim position and
longitudinal stability.

The following day, July 8th, the winds were calm and we decided to
make our first flight around the patch.  Take-off was made with zero
degree drooped leading edge and zero degree flap using 90 percent RPM.
At 105 KIAS the aircraft lifted off the ground and accelerated to 135
to 140 knots and made a gradual climb out.  The BD-10 climbed to about
9000 feet while various stability and control parameters were checked.

Engine accelerations and decelerations were performed from 80 percent
to 100 percent with excellent response.  Engine temperatures were
excellent throughout the entire flight.  Later engine cooling and
baffling were found to be excellent.  It was in this configuration
with the leading and trailing edge flaps up, but gear down, that we
discovered there was buffeting action similar to a stall warning that
continued up to 145 KIAS and disappeared at higher speeds.  The
maximum speed throughout the flight was 180 KIAS.  It was found that
the aircraft was slightly out of trim with a little heavy right wing.
A slight left rudder was required to center the ball.

Leading edge droop was lowered to 15 degrees and it was found that the
buffeting occurred at 130 knots or lower.

Later 10 degrees of trailing edge flaps were used and the aircraft
flown down to 90 KIAS, (stall warning) was present from 90 to 120
KIAS.

The flight lasted for approximately 35 minutes and was gear down at
all times.  Ed made the approach for landing utilizing 15 degrees of
leading edge and 10 degrees of trailing edge flap.

Needless to say there was a very happy group of people at Mojave and
Spirit of St. Louis Airport.  This was the first flight of an aircraft
designed and built by a very talented and dedicated group of people.
It is interesting to note that the flight was made on the morning that
they had to scrub the attempted landing of the Shuttle at Edwards Air
Force Base 15 miles away.

It is also interesting to note that a beautiful, well equipped T-28
was used as a chase plane.  It was flown by Mike Van Wagenen,
President of FOX-10 Corporation, with Jim Bede in the back seat as an
observer.  After just linking up with the BD-10 the chase plane had to
abort because the prop governor had failed and went into flat pitch.
So on this historic day, the BD-10 performed its flight without
incident and the T-28 had to abort after less than ten minutes.

Obviously, this is just the beginning of the flight test program.
Flights with the gear retracted, flights with the aircraft tufted to
determine the flow pattern and the cause of the buffeting and, of
course, installation of very complete instrumentation to permit
gathering of comprehensive engineering flight test data will be
forthcoming.