On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 04:04:19 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Tubbiolo
wrote:

After about two hrs of reading on the BD-4, I have to admit I kind of
like it. A conventional design, lots of build options, all metal ( I have
a full machine shop ), and can be built from plans and raw materials.
However, I can't say that I'm too impressed of what I have read of Jim
Bede's operations, and his other designs don't push my buttons. I can't
seem to find how many were built, and I have not taken the time to
research the FAA accident archive. Does anybody know how many were built,
accidents etc? Any BD-4 builders/operators out there?

Forget that ugly thing, and build a Bearhawk if you want a 4 seater
that is actually a 4 seater that can carry a good amount of stuff too.
Somewhat slower than the BD but with the larger engines it is
certainly no slouch in the speed department, compared to similar
designs. And it is also available as plans only or kit. Of course, I
am not at all biased.... 8^)

What's involved in getting a cirt for your own design? What would stop
me from basing a design on the C-172? How different must it be to escape
copyright infringment?

Nothing stopping you except for the fact that Cessna designed it to be
built in volume, and it wouldn't really lend itself to one off
construction. In the time that you spend reverse engineering it and
just getting the tooling set up, you could probably complete one of
the more popular homebuilt designs from start to finish.

Besides, if you were to go this route you would basically have to
disassemble completely a 172 in order to duplicate the parts, and at
that point it would be easier to just restore the 172.


================================================== ==
Del Rawlins--
Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:
http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/
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