I lied in the title. I am not fitting the rudder to my Bede BD-4C airplane. I am fitting the vertical stabilizer. The vertical stabilizer is the thing which sticks up, like a shark’s fin, and does not move. The rudder is the piece attached to the back of the vertical stabilizer and which wiggles left and right.
A week ago, I set the vertical stabilizer atop the fuselage to see if it was ready to be attached. It was not.
The spar running down the back of the stabilizer did not sit flush against the gusset to which it needs to be attached. You can see the gap in the photo below (click on it to see it larger).
In addition to the misfit between the spar and the gusset, the skin around the bottom of the stabilizer was not even. In some places it extended almost 0.30″ beyond the bottom rib; in other places, only 0.05″.
Fitting the vertical stabilizer to my Bede BD-4C required two “adjustments.” First, I trimmed the skin back to 0.05″ all the way around the bottom. With the skin trimmed evenly, the stabilizer now sits perfectly vertical on top of the fuselage.
Then I unbolted most of the pieces which hold the rear fuselage gusset in place. I left it attached only at the top, so that the bottom could “swing” back and forth. This allowed me to swing the bottom of the gusset rearward so that it lay flush against the stabilizer rear spar, thus:
I then trimmed two of the angles to fit in their new position. In this photo, you can see that the bottom of angle 04L1349 has been moved aft about 0.25″.
Next, I will bolt the rear gusset of the fuselage to the rear spar of the vertical stabilizer.
There are four small gussets to which angle 04L1349, and it’s mate on the other side of the fuselage, attach. If you click to enlarge the photo above, you will see two of these gussets behind 04L1349. You will also see that the holes in that angle do not line up with the holes in the gussets.
With the vertical stabilizer sitting on top of the fuselage,
…and the rear spar of the stabilizer attached to the gusset on the back of the fuselage,
…and 04L1349 and it’s mate attached to the gusset on the back of the fuselage,
…I will then make new (small) gussets to hold the angles in exactly the right positions.
The result will be a vertical tail, firmly attached to the fuselage, and plenty strong enough for my Bede BD-4C in flight.
I recently read a blog from a guy stating that the Bede Corp in Medina was a bunch of crooks. The author indicated how he had sued Jim Bede for not delivering the agreed upon kit parts. What experience have you had with this company? Would I be safe in considering building their aircraft?
Don,
I read that posting and don’t know what altered universe the guy lives in. I started talking to Jim Bede, Jr. at BedeCorp in the summer of 2011 at AirVenture. I have been dealing with Jim Bede, Jr. (who currently runs the company) and with Jim Bede, Sr. (who designed the plane and is still around) and with several employees of BedeCorp. I have found them all to be honest, accessible, and very responsive.
BedeCorp is a tiny company. They don’t do everything perfectly. But every time that I have encountered a problem, they have fixed it very promptly, without cost to me, and without any fuss on my part. Sometimes the fix has been as simple as a phone call or text message or email (with photos) from Steve. Sometimes it has involved shipping replacement parts to me.
After dealing with BedeCorp for over a year, I still have a great deal of confidence in them. You might also check out the BD-4 fourms at http://www.bd-4.org/forums/ for more opinions. Finally, I will email my phone number to you, in case you want to talk to me.
— Art Z.