Bede BD-12

The Bede BD-12 was an American homebuilt aircraft designed by Jim Bede and produced by Bede Aircraft of Medina, Ohio, introduced in the 1990s. The aircraft was intended to be supplied as a kit for amateur construction, but only one was ever built. It first flew in 1995.

Design and development
Designed as a scaled-up Bede BD-5, the BD-12 featured a cantilever low-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit under a gull-wing canopy, retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration.

The aircraft was made from fibre-reinforced plastic composite materials. Its 23.0 ft span wing, mounted flaps and had a wing area of 93.0 sqft. The standard engines used were the 100 hp Continental O-200A or the 150 hp Lycoming O-320 powerplant.

The aircraft had a typical empty weight of 680 lb and a gross weight of 1310 lb, giving a useful load of 630 lb. With full fuel of 37 u.s.gal the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage was 408 lb.

The standard day, sea level, no wind, takeoff with a 150 hp engine was 725 ft and the landing roll was 800 ft.

The company that currently owns the rights to the design, BedeCorp, indicates that production was not started due to the cost of tooling and the lack of funds.

The design was further developed into the Bede BD-14, a four-seat version.

Operational history
In April 2015 no examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although one had been registered to the designer at one time.

Variants

 * BD-12B
 * Version with 100 hp Continental O-200A engine.


 * BD-12C
 * Version with 150 hp Lycoming O-320 engine.