I'm sure if you were to contact Juan Jiminez you'll be able to learn
much of what you want to know. He's well known as being the local BD5-J
expert. What he doesn't know or can tell you about the BD5 isn't worth
knowing...

I don't have his email address but you might do a Google search in RAH
for his past posts to get an idea of the depth of his knowledge and
abilitys.

John

Maury Markowitz wrote:
I'm writing a general Wikipedia article on the BD-5 (rewriting
actually) and I'm trying to re-create the story. My interest is
primarily from a "Popular someting" or "something Mechanics" magazine
(currently at my parents house, I'll see if I can get it over the
holidays - I don't think it was either of the "big two") article that
made me fall in love with the plane.

I've read many articles on the topic, looked over cutaways, and read
some of the flamefests here. Many minor details still seem to be
missing, however, and I'd like to clear some of these up. Sources would
be GREATLY appreciated:

1) when was the -5 first announced? 68 seems to be the number, but I've
seen 69 and 71 as well.
2) what was the original planned ship date?
3) can someone give me a rundown of the engine models? I seem to
remember the article mentioning a version of the VW bug motor being
used, possibly as an option?
4) what was the problem with the original V tail? I believe the
magazine article I read referred to the V-tail version AS the A and B
(with the wings changed, as in the later A/B), is this correct?
... and at what point did they change it to the later design?
5) am I right in reading that the BD-5D was a pre-built FAR'ed version
of the kit?
...if so when did these plans start?
... and was Rutan brought in specifically for this part of the
project?
6) when did work on the BD-5J start?
... was this primarily Rutan's work?
7) when did the kits actually start shipping? Yes, even in partial
form...

8) I have come across a claim about something like a
one-crash-per-flight-hour figure. Why such a high rate? One person (a
local friend) mentioned something about the high thrust line making
landings difficult (more power, nose down), while a thread here
mentioned a 100mph landing speed for the A models, and that the first
four A's crashed. I have also seen a breakdown of every -5J, and it
does indeed have lots of accidents, but it is not clear if these are
being added in or not.
... so any detail here would be appreciated.

Much of the flamage has to do with people losing their deposits when
the company died. However there are conflicting statements:

9) were the deposits supposedly placed in escrow?
10) I have seen conflicting claims about the "completeness" of the kits
as received. Some suggest it was just the drivetrain missing, others
that large parts of the kit were missing.

And one performance question:

11) The magazine article claimed a 210 mph cruise (max?) for the A
model. I realize that it will be difficult to compare, but what sorts
of speeds do people get with the B's with the larger (Honda typically)
engines?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated! Please, no second hand info!
"I seem to remember the date being..." is ok, but "I heard about a guy
that got a kit and..." is NOT.

Thanks! And sorry for being so demanding, but I'd really like to avoid
a flame fest.

Maury