Bede XBD-2: Experimental Prototype for Unique Technologies

The clean-sheet aircraft design sought to improve aerodynamics by incorporating its twin engines in the aft fuselage.

今日の英語の習慣化の題材は...

1月最後の習慣化の題材ですが、Aircraft Historyの中でもUniqueな Bebe XBD-2をご紹介します。

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Most aircraft engineers, tasked with designing a new STOL aircraft, wouldn’t opt to drill 160,000 holes in the wing and utilize two piston engines to drive a single pusher propeller. 

But then again, most engineers aren’t Jim Bede. 

While still enrolled in the aeronautical engineering program at Wichita University, Bede designed an aircraft that would incorporate a number of unique technologies. His vision was to integrate these technologies to provide superior performance to existing designs. Integrating new systems and complexity into an entirely new aircraft design, however, would prove to be challenging even for him.