There are not any Bede BD-4 airplanes near me and I wanted some landing practice so I decided to make do with the tool on hand: a Cessna 172. The Cessna, flaps up, stalls at about the same speed as the Bede BD-4C with the flaps down. I rented a Cessna 172 and took it out for some flaps up landings.
- I flew downwind (parallel to the runway) at 90 knots (104 MPH)
- I flew crosswind at 80 knots (92 MPH)
- I flew final approach at 70 knots (81 MPH)
This one minute video starts just before I make the turn from crosswind to final. If you have never been in the front seat of an airplane as it lands, I think you will like this.
The Cessna stalls, flaps up, at 58 knots. Crossing the threshold at 70 knots is kind of fast. As the wing settled into ground effect, the plane floated a long way down the runway, bleeding off speed, before it was done flying and the wheels settled onto the pavement. For today’s purpose, though, that was OK. I just wanted to get a feel for what it was like to fly the whole pattern 10-15 knots faster than I was accustomed to doing in my Piper Arrow.
I tried a Comanche 180 as it has laminar flow wing and such. It was NOTHING like the BD-4! The 4 is very speed sensitive. 75 and it falls out of the air. 85 and it floats forever. 80 and it sets down perfectly. Not sure if the C model changes but the original was not happy under 100 MPH. The ailerons were not enough down there. The stick was knee to knee to get things to happen.
I would certainly get time in the BD-4C before flight. Had a young man in Cedar Rapids who got impatient to fly his tail dragger and didn’t wait for some BD-4 time. Got tailwheel time in a Cub. First flight he ended up in the intersection of main runways at Cedar Rapids airport upside down!
Thanks for your words of warning, John! I know that the Cessna 172 doesn’t land like the BD-4. But I was able to get a feel fro what it is like to fly the pattern that fast and that’s better than nothing. Besides, it was a nice day for flying and practicing crosswind landings. 🙂