BD5 Down in Provost Alberta, Pilot Deceased

[star57]

Monday afternoon a BD5 went down in Provost Alberta, the pilot was a 75 years old highly experienced aviation enthusiast, IFR certified and over 2000 hours, most of it in his Bonanza.

Out of respect for his memory and family I'm not releasing his name.


Rest in Peace!

[AirFrame]

CBC has the story with one photo, showing a part wrapped around a tree a significant elevation above ground.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.2747449

I've wanted to fly one since the days when Corky Fornoff flew the BD-5 Microjet around the airshow circuit. Having seen a few up close, it's clear that the crashworthiness would always be on your mind.

Condolences to the pilot's family.

[Big Pistons Forever]

My condolences also.

Unfortunately the BD5 has the highest fatal accident rate of any homebuilt design.

[DanWEC]

A 50% fatality rate for ownership. It's a very unforgiving airplane. My condolences, tragic.
A guy walked into my club last month, owns one, no licence, no clue about flying. Said he runs it up and down a nearby runway once in a while for fun. (!) Wanted to get a rec license so he could fly it. I recommended strongly about getting rid of it for his level, but I fear he might just try to fly it and I'll be reading about it in the paper. Had a nightmare about it last week.

This guy probably knew how to fly it.

[KISS_MY_TCAS]

I remember about 10 years ago in YXE, they were trying to get that BD5 flying, endless problems with the Honda engine in it. After about a week of trials, they took the wings off, tossed in the back of a 3/4 ton and off it went. I always wondered what happened to the plane, and the gentleman who met his fate. He used to pop by the hangar in his Bonanza quite often back then, but i haven't seen him in several years. Unfortunately, it isn't the first time that particular BD and the pilot involved had an incident, I always felt that aircraft was a little cursed. The picture published in the news article shows the wing root exposed with its tubular spar, and the tip is against the fuselage making it look like an in flight wing separation. I don't want to speculate, but it is strange...hopefully the wing attach was correctly secured. From what I recall that was a common problem with the Bede as it was designed with quick release wings for easy transport. God speed, he was an interesting man, and truly loved aviation.

[RatherBeFlying]

Hard to tell from the CBC photo, but the tube spar stub does not look as seriously bent as it would if crash forces had pulled it out.

We don't know what would happen with the ailerons as the wing slid out -- flutter, disconnect, jam???

If free to rotate, section moment would start to rotate the wing followed by uncontrolled roll.

Private glider owners without hangar space pull their gliders out of the trailer and rig whenever they fly.

Newer gliders are a bunch more idiot-proof with automatic control hookups. The older ones sometimes get launched with not everything hooked up and get written off. If the pilot's lucky he survives.

I suspect the BD design has its share of gotchas when putting it together.

[Pop n Fresh]

The sun has released his name. He was a great guy. Blue skies sir.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/08/26/ca ... st-alberta

[Bede]

One of the major design issues leading to the high fatality rate is the distance from the nose to the pilot. In the -5 it is about 6". So if you hit something, it's you hitting it, not the airplane deforming around you absorbing the impact.

From my knowledge, the bd-5 community is all but dead. It's very rare you see any of them around anymore.

[dxpr]

I knew him. I hadn't thought of him or is airplane in years, except for one day last week.. Before the accident.. Weird.

[star57]

Hi knew him for a few years as he joined the RA crowd for lunch on occasion and also would join the CFC Breakfast group, his career was construction and my earlier career was also construction, so in that area we had some things in common, last time I had lunch with him we stayed chatting about aircraft and what to buy and not to buy etc, he had a lot of depth and knowledge in general aviation, loved his Bonanza! his IR and just had installed a GTN750 on the Bonanza, according to some people that may have spoken to the locals that saw him take off, he apparently lost the engine, for a full report and better understanding we should wait for the TSB report.
Rest in Peace Gord.

[ettw]

There will be a fly in gathering at gords home airport on Saturday starting around noon. Guess we're going to hang out at the hanger and tell lies. I'm sure gord would appreciate that sort of celebration of life.

ETTW

[pelmet]

A14W0136: The privately owned amateur-built Bede BD5B, C-GTDD, had just departed the Provost, AB airport (CEH6) for a local flight. It was reported that the engine quit and then re-started. A loss of control then occurred and the aircraft collided with trees and terrain in an inverted attitude. The pilot was fatally injured. There was no post-crash fire.

[ettw]

What a wonderful celebration of life today. Weather was great, 32 airplanes came in and many stories were told!

RIP Gord