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BD-4 Flight Testing

The two best advices for flight testing your BD-4 are probably:

  1. Talk with other BD-4 owners and see if you can get some time in a BD-4 with the same landing gear configuration as yours.
  2. Hook up with the local EAA Advisor.

Here is a comment from Deene Odgen, discussing how the EAA offers help (in a message to the mailing list on 10/18/2002:

This is a good opportunity for me to recommend that all builders take advantage of the EAA Technical Counselor and Flight Advisor programs. These (free, no EAA membership required) are programs that have very experienced builders and pilots help folks. The Tech Counselor (I think Hugo is one) goes over the project with the builder and basically does a thorough inspection.

I am a Flight Advisor and the goal of this program is to help the builder review his or his test pilots qualifications and develop safe test flight plans. The program is structured around the military test flight methodology (which Ken K. has mentioned earlier). Since the inception of the FA program, early test flight accidents have fallen dramatically.

John's recommendations below fall right in line with the FA program recommendations for gaining currency. Additionally, detail test flight planning and preparation is very important.

You can get more info on both programs and lists of TC and FAs in your area at the EAA web site: www.eaa.org.

The BD-4 community is very fortunate to have Ken Kopp in their midth. Ken is a test pilot for the navy and performed an extensive and very detailed test program for his own BD-4. Here are two of his contributions: