Bede BD-10
The Bede BD-10 was Jim Bede's attempt to introduce the world's first kit-built jet-powered general aviation supersonic aircraft. After several years of testing and modifications, the project was taken over by investors in order to produce fully completed civilian and military training aircraft, but these projects were never realized. Five examples were built; three of these crashed, and the remaining two examples are unflyable. Design and development The genesis of the BD-10 came about after the Bede BD-5 project in the 1970s, when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered Jim Bede into a consent decree, forbidding him from accepting down payments for aircraft for a period of ten years. Bede worked on numerous other projects during this period with preliminary design begun by 1983 on a small jet. Within weeks of the agreement expiring in 1989, he announced plans for the BD-10J under the aegis of Bede Jet Corporation, at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport. The BD-5's failure was due largely to the unavailability of a suitable engine; during the BD-5's history one engine company after another either exited the engine business or went bankrupt. Bede started the new design by selecting a suitable commonly available engine and then