Art Zemon's Blog Posts

Over the last two weeks, my Bede BD-4C airplane has been in the shop for focused work on the engine. I got a couple of small tasks done while it was there but progress has been largely stalled. I asked the A&P mechanic to make some final adjustments to the engine so that it would […]

We got an immense amount done on my Bede BD-4C airplane this week. Thank you Thank you Thank you to all of the friends who have shown up at the hangar and helped! April 29 Connected wiring for the heated pitot tube. The controller was about one foot too far from the pitot tube. Lacking […]

I am into the final push to “complete” my Bede BD-4C airplane, get it flying, and fly it to AirVenture for the 50th anniversary celebration of the BD-4 airplane. It has been a busy week. I thrilled with how much more quickly things go when I have friends helping. At the same time, I am […]

Using an EFIS instead of “steam gauges” in my Bede BD-4C airplane allowed me to simplify the instrument panel. BD-4 panels usually have the instruments in the main part of the panel; an angled lower section with a few more instruments, circuit breakers, and switches; and then a console with the fuel selector and engine […]

I will have a stack of four radios in the center of the instrument panel of my Bede BD-4C airplane. I installed three of them now. I will add the fourth next year. Here is my mock-up of the instrument panel. You can see the radio stack in the center. From top to bottom, the […]

My strong desire to be permanently rid of spinning gyroscopes, vacuum pumps, and their doomed-to-failure internal bearings, was a primary driver in my decision to build my own airplane. My Bede BD-4C has a fully electric instrument panel so, no surprise, it needs a reasonably sophisticated wiring harness. There are several reputable companies who will […]

You need to know the outside air temperature when you are flying an airplane. That lets you accurately calculate your airspeed and determine whether the mist or rain you are flying toward will stay liquid or coat your wings with ice. To get an accurate reading, the outside air temperature (OAT) probe should be located […]

OK… I’m embarrassed. I knew that it had been a long time since I had posted an airplane update but, when I looked back over the photos that I have taken, I was shocked to see how much I have done. This is the first of several posts to catch you up on progress on […]

I finished two small tasks on my Bede BD-4C airplane this week. First, I fabricated and installed backing plates (a/k/a skin doublers) for the VOR antenna and the transponder antenna. Second, I fabricated and installed the seals for the gaps between the main landing gear legs and the bottom of the fuselage. Scale is a […]

I installed the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) in my airplane last week. This radio, in case of a crash, transmits the airplane’s GPS position and a unique identifier to a satellite. Since the search and rescue folks know where the airplane is and which airplane is transmitting the distress signal (and therefore, what it looks […]

The firewall on my Bede BD-4C airplane is finally bolted in place. There are 58 bolts. They have all been on, and off, and on, and off, and on again. Some more times than that. But they are finally all on for (I hope) the last time. Since the firewall is basically just a big flat pieces […]

Last week, I posted about Starting on the Firewall for my airplane. With the corners cut out, it is time to install the sheet of stainless steel. Installing the firewall on a Bede BD-4C airplane is easy: Take a big sheet of stainless steel Put a zillion holes in it that exactly line up with the […]

I started on the firewall for my Bede BD-4C airplane tonight. Being a fire wall, it is stainless steel instead of aluminum. It is also surprisingly thin, just 26 gauge, about .019 inches.