The World's Smallest Jet! An Interview with Justin Lewis, Pilot of the FLS Microjet
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013, AirshowStuff sat down with Justin Lewis, pilot of the USFleetTracking FLS Microjet, the world's smallest jet. Watch to see this amazing aircraft in action, and hear about how it came to be and why it is so special!
Look for Justin at an airshow near you in 2014! You can find more information and his 2014 show schedule at flsmicrojet.com/
For more airshow and aviation videos, photos, and merchandise, check out our website at www.AirshowStuf...
Next, go behind the scenes (and onto the runway) with a jet-powered school bus: ua-cam.com/video/YR88ZQZw6aE/v-deo.html
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this isn't the world's smallest jet tho
What's the price.
MIDJET 😂🤣😂
I grew up in the air show scene when my dad used to fly the Bud light Microjet Bd5-J back in the 80's....
I Curious how you overcame the engine "Lack of manufacturers"...🤒
I know that was the constant Pain in the Ass..
Memories......
Jim Bede passed away this past summer. It would be nice if they would at least acknowledge his ingenuity in the original design of the BD5.
+John Dill Sad news - I hadn't heard that. Another brilliant aircraft designer gets his wings :(
Agree, its a BD aircraft.
back in the 80s as a teenager I recall a similar aircraft that amazed me that was called The Coors Silver Bullet ,I was wondering if it is the one you are referring to?
Yeah this is like downloading a song, changing one note and then marketing as something done buy you.
I was going to build the BD5, but the fly club said too many guys died flying it.
Looks an awful lot like an updated version of the BD-5J, a craft I've been dreaming about since I was a kid, and I'm 57!
I'm 56, and I also dreamed of owning a BD-5J when I was a teenager!
...or a threesome;-))
Welcome to the club. Just turned 55 and first saw this in a book in the 70's of Really Cool Stuff. Also had a copy of Flight magazine highlighting Richard Bach's Bede-5J.
You guys also had the Alpine audio red Lamborghini Countach poster, right?
Exactly! An article in a Gold-colored anniversary issue of Flying Magazine. Could not bring myself to throw it away, I think I still have it up in the attic somewhere.
No, I had the Farrah Fawcett poster.
I have seen this aircraft multiple times. I love how the shape of the tail of this aircraft sort of acts as a vertical stabilizer along with the actual vertical stabilizer!
Dear Santa...
Santa: Not so fast. Get certification or join the Airforce.
LOL
0:00 i thought the simpsons was about to start...
DAGATHire haha good call
This looks like a really cool jet but It makes me nervous watching it fly extreme maneuvers because the wings don't look very strong.
It's all about leverage, actually. The less weight pushing on the wings, the sturdier it is. Watch on an airliner how much those wings flap up and down. Less weight against the wings, less resistance pushing the wings back and forth, short but thick wing spars will allow much more evasive maneuvers.
Plus if you really just scale it up to the size of a jet airliner the wings aren’t really that much different when it comes to thickness
It is cool to see this in person at the airshows.
What a fantastic little aeroplane. I must admit until seeing the video I had not come across it before. Thank you for posting the video.
Now hang on a minute. Like several others have noticed before me, that looks a whole lot like a Bede BD-5. It was used in a Bond film, and Burt Rutan did the conversion from petrol/ prop to turbojet on it. Richard Bache who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull used to own one.
2011? I've seen this exact airframe live and maneuvering in the mid '80's. The BD5j. What a cool little plane though, would be a blast to fly, I"m sure.
This was realy good! Thanks for uploading! Fantastic plane! :)
Nice little plane
Aww little baby jet :) how cute
Great piece. Anybody remember the Coors Silver Bullet? 😀
Isn't it a Bede BD-5J Acrostar Jet, as seen in Octopussy?
James Wilsher
Close, but most of the BD-5J's are now out of commission.
*****
To start with, the BD-5J length was 13' 4" and the wingspan 14' 5". The Microjet's length is 13', with a wingspan of 17'. The Microjet was based on the BD-5 but in an aircraft this size, the changes are substantial. There are other details involved that give this airframe a different designation from the original BD series.
Anyone can copy and paste statements from websites, but to understand what they are doing, you HAVE to read into the details.
+Nigel Ponsonby smythe Carl sounds spot on, and any very small jet is going to look very close to the original BD-5J. If you listened, it's not a BD5-J. Most people who call other period idiots, are the idiots! With VERY VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS, AND YOU ARE NOT ONE. I was flying out of Winter Haven when Richard Bach lived there. He loved that thing for a while. I wonder what happened to it?
+gedgar2000 Saying the FLS-microjet is not a BD5 is like saying the mk XXIV isn't a spitfire, especially when the makers claim they upgraded the BD5 to the latest standards
***** always one step ahead.
Wow this is so sick! I'm in aerospace engineering classes right now. Hopefully i'll get skilled enough and be successful enough in my career that i'll actually be able to consider building my own jet!
And I hope you come up with something else than this.
This jet appeared on the air show circuit before 2011. I saw one fly in the 80s at the annual Reno Air Races, flown by Bob Bishop.
His hometown is where I live. I actually met him at a summer camp, he was picking somebody up.
in 1973 we went to the EAA flyin at Oshkosh and they had the BD-5 & BD-5J there, it was so cool, looked like it would be lots of fun to fly.
Put a minigun on it, it becomes a deadly weapon, not only for its small size but its amazing maneuverability.
Minigun and ammunition would be too much weight
Even without the ammunition you're looking at at least 80 pounds, likely a fair deal more for an aircraft setup seeing as it'd absolutely require a proper pod, easily adding another 100+ pounds. For ammunition, 1,000 rounds would add 55 pounds to that. Point being that this is far too much weight for such a light aircraft, at the very least severely harming performance.
Baby brrrt with M134
"Why are we going backwards?"
Supersize it and you have a perfect light fighter.
Another brilliant person inspiring cool things.
Is there a reason it is not mentioned that this is a modified Bede BD-5? Are they trying to separate themselves from Jim Bede and his series of airplanes? Strange.
I don't think they are. I think the guy being interviewed assumes most people would know that. But, they interviewer should have made that much clearer. It seems to be confusing a lot of people.
Listening to the interview, it seems the pilot takes it for granted that you know it is a variant of the BD-5.
Many years ago 40 or 50, a man and his wife put on a jet show in central Texas. They each flew one about this size.
Waow! Full glass cockpit, like a great one ! Amazing !
i recall this when they came OUT loved it BD5J
~250 lbs thrust in a ~400 lb plus ~200 pound pilot is pretty decent, but if you ask me (not that anyone ever does) this little puppy is just begging for an afterburner :)
I have seen better....
absolutely
Golden brother NO, wings are there to make plane slower in landing, the engine give plane lift, not wing.
AmnScottNN I think you'll wanna re-learn your avionics buddy
B VLampe I know this because I play Flight Simulator. Wings are designed to keep it slow
Its insane to think about how hard Germany and then the US worked 60 years ago to get a safe working jet... if they could have only warped time and grabbed this little thing... (not that it would have been good for Germany to get it), but its amazing how hard they all worked to achieve the knowledge contained in that tiny jet.
*Seriously COOL ! ! !*
He said the plane amazed him as a kid. He and his engineering firm have just updated it.
Over 300 miles with an auxiliary tank? Not bad! I could fly that home for the holidays.
I remember reading about the first BD-5 jet engine conversion in Popular Science back in the early 70’s and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. And it’s still very cool today. The thing just seems like it was always meant to have a jet engine. Anyway I wish I could take one of these up. Although I do seem to remember also reading that they can be a bit unstable and therefore tricky to fly safely.
The BD-5 Jet was in a magazine report (either Popular Science or Popular Mechanics in 1978... I don't remember which) and it really caught my eye. Having grown up with a father who was a bush pilot in Alaska in the mid-1950s and being thoroughly bitten by that infectious "Flying Bug" this thing was fascinating. I wrote a paper on this plane in college and the professor wanted to run out and buy one!! 😂The thing that did make me a bit more cautious were the builder/pilots that got into them without adequate experience. They were, and still are, very quick for their size which also makes them pretty "twitchy" if he pilot doesn't have a delicate feel for the controls. While Justin Lewis is not the typical pilot that I read about, he's certainly the perfect guy to be flying one.
From the side it looks like something out of a Flash Gordon serial.
I like boobies!
I know you are, but what am I?
Try James bond. One similar was used in the films.
Oh no he used papyrus as a font
Id didn't appear in 2011. This is the jet powered version of the homebuilt BD-5, it's been around for decades (in jet version), think Coors Lite silver bullet...same exact jet.
It's the Honda Grom of aeroplanes
I can't wait to see it I'm really excited because it's going to be at both shows that I'm going to be attending
This is an aircraft version of the BD5 Expermental that was designed by Corkey Fornof from Houma, Louisiana. When I was a kid before the James Bond movie stunt they were testing this little plane pulling it behind a Grumman F8F Bearcat. I saw them testing this thing flying over my house before it got an engine.
I remember James Bond unloading one (Bede 5J) from a horse trailer ...and then quickly took to the skies!
When this model kit sold in the early '70s it was called the BD-5J. Engine dependability back then was a big problem. Stability instructions was a class one should not miss back in the day w/o mocro gyros. Glad to see it catching attention this later date. : ) ua-cam.com/video/sbDQdxX8zBI/v-deo.html
It must have been the BD-5J that was featured in a Bond film from that period. So this plane has been around for quite some time in one format or another.
Very cool!
Wow !! My first think it was a pink panther episode lol!!
Hey buddy honesty I hope that one day you come to show up at wings over Houston air show to perform and see live this wonder.
Cheers
Its a BD-7 featured in a Bond movie flying through a hangar.
Love the fast retracting gear. Too bad the range isn't three times longer.
Question...
The airframe looks very similar to a Bede BD5....... IS that the origin of it?
Awesome bird Justin, always loved those microjets... Now, where's the GoPro POV stuff?!?!? lol
That is worth the money! Beautiful machine!
THAT IS THE COOLEST JET IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!!
J.W. "Corky" Fornof from Houma, La. owned and flew the BD5-J that was featured in the opening scenes of the James Bond movie "Octopussy" in the early '80s. I painted the trailer for Corky that he used to transport it from show to show. I custom painted several things for him before he left houma and moved to California to start his movie career as an aviation specialist designing and performing in various aviation scenes in many movies. Corky and his dad, Bill Fornof, also flew a matching pair of Grumman F-8-F Bearcats. His dad crashed in an air show in New Jersey in the late 70s and Corky went on as a solo performer. He later added the jet as part of his act. He did a performance in the 'cat, and would follow it with a performance in the BD5-J. Corky's dad, Bill, owned the local Cadillac/Oldsmobile dealership in Houma, which Corky inherited after his dad's crash at the age of 27, making him the youngest Caddy dealership owner in the country. Bill's top body man for the dealership kept up the paint on the 'cats, which in my opinion were the most beautiful planes then, and have never been topped, although the "Rare Bear" looks awesome too. Corky later went on to form a BD5-J trio with Bob Bishop and another pilot. Bob Bishop, and the other pilot also formed a two plane BD5-J team that was sponsored by Coors lite. By the way, the BD5-J was called a "micro jet" back then, so that's not a new thing.
Can you imagine something like that but supersonic ? That would be so cool.
What a beautiful thing !
Looks like the old Coors Silver Bullet.
yep. I remember seeing the Coors Light jet before I knew how to fly at an airshow in Oswego New York
tackyman2011 I agree. Watched them at air shows in the nineties. One of the shows was at homestead Air Force base before hurricane Andrew tore it up. They flew with the Coors silver Bullet paint job.
Voodoo one I seen it at the opa locka airshow as a kid it was my first airshow thought that was the coolest jet I ever seen till the f-14 took off and a b-1 flew by and the rest of demos jets did their thing but the silver bullet is still a cool little jet.
tackym
Bede FTW! Anyone would think the Navy dude designed it.
'It's ok to go a little be closer to the ground than you're used to.'
Excellent for commuting. Imagine what the boss would say if you landed in the parking lot with that beauty
In the 80's they called that kit "the silver bullet" and would advertise for a beer company.
Designed by the late Jim Bede Esq., Medina OH...BD-5 lives on...keep it going junior!
(Last century--1970s)
So beautiful jet, project!!!
This is very cool. Thanx.
Richard Bach, the guy that wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull used to fly one of these. I recall the original engine was an air-conditioning engine from a 747. I could be wrong.
Even after all the comments about this being the BD-5J, you STILL haven't updated the description and given the actual designer and builder of this aircraft credit....
This reminds be of a light jet that was called the BD-5 or something. (Very cool thrust reverser, by the way.)
yeaaaa flying this is on my bucket list now
+Nick G save it for bucket list 2.0
It is very beautiful if you had done it with variable wings like the f14 tomcat airplane, but I have realized, it is for the plane's planning, a greeting from Spain.
2011? I saw this jet when it made the air show circuit in the eighties. It was the Coors LIght Silver Bullet Jet. I also remember the same plane sold as a BD-5 propeller plane kit. Nothing new here.
Brilliant brother 👍 it reminds me of the bond movie plane.
It's essentially a Bede-5 and that should be acknowledged.
Corky Fornhoff would be proud. That damn TRS-18 used to cause us endless problems.
Incredible
I LOVE IT!!!
Looks like a version of the Bede BD-5
I thought it was the BD-7 when I first saw it.
Definitely a BD-5J, but he's talking like he built it. Bede Corp went out of business in the '70s. There is a company using that name today but they don't offer the BD-5 in any variant.
I thought it looked like a BB8 for sure!
I have seen many kits for sale that are brand new or unfinished so it's not out of the question that he could have bought it as NOS
I agree too. That's definitely a BD-5J. I don't think FLS should get away with calling it anything else.
I knew a pilot named... Bobby Bishop that flew one of these BD-5’s... I believe he was the pilot who flew through the hanger on the James Bond movie.. I lost track of Bobby... most who fly aerobatics in shows don’t seem to live very long... never the less, very impressive aircraft ... sadly, I’m 6’5” at 250 so all I can do is appreciate it from afar
really cool stuff
It is a fantastic aircraft. If, delta or swept wing will be added I think the speed may be could increase.
thats how i feel about warriorcycles , i had many cycles but none like this one
Nice job
I don't believe this is the worlds smallest jet.
The Cri-Cri, with two turbines on it, is quite a bit smaller than this.
Cri-Cri jet is still an experimental I believe, whereas this is and has been operational for decades.
But oh god, it's so butt-ugly.
The aircraft in the video displayed above is experimental as well.
Todd
It's not actually. They've been selling these as kits since 2011.
I've also found this:
"It is interesting to note that although the heavier BD-5J is considered the world's smallest jet, Guinness Book has honored the original Cri-Cri as the world's smallest twin-engine airplane. However, the jet-powered version of the plane is apparently ineligible for the world's smallest jet due to Guinness's rules on the subject.
The following quote explaining why comes from Juan Jiménez, who owns the BD-5J that now holds the jet record. "The Cri-Cri is indeed lighter than the BD-5J, but it is not smaller. As designed, the Cri-Cri is 12 ft, 10 in long. The BD-5J is shorter than that, closer to 12 feet. In order to challenge a record like this, you have to be physically smaller in length and width, or be the same size and lighter by some margin which Guinness decides. In my case, my aircraft is the same dimensions as the previous record holder, but almost 20% lighter. However, there is one thing the Cri-Cri can do that I can't--set FAI performance records in a weight class that I can't touch."
- answer by Molly Swanson, 28 May 2006"
+Christian Nelson Very interesting.
Although, I thought that aircraft sold as a kit were to be considered as experimental; At least that's what the FAA website stated.
Todd
Well, technically you're right.
Hope this one's more reliable than the original BD5 crash-o-holic. I DO really like the new landing gear. Pretty damned impressive.
Nice BD5-J. It is has been around since the 80s at least.
I recall that the Bede 5 called for a 70hp Hirth snowmobile engine however the engine development failed to prove successful and reliable. The engine's location was in front of the propeller which called for a shaft and over heating may have been an issue too. Many kits were sold and projects were plentiful as I understand. I chose a more conventional experimental airplane and was extremely happy with it. Leo Loudenslager flew a Bede micro-jet too, but no credit is given from the featured air show pilot in this video. Leo died a month after a car hit him head-on while he was riding his motorcycle home from the store.
Its like a throwback to the Me-163(in size). I want one.
A little. Except not rocket-powered.
I'd like to see someone take this design a step further and build one using a delta wing configuration. Following that, it would be super cool if someone built a delta wing only version like a stealth bomber. The stealth fighter with it's twin tail controls would also be very cool in a miniature form.
I just KNEW I've done something wrong in life...
I've hung up my Air Force suit, and yet, I can't afford to buy such a wonderful silver machine. But I sure would love to.have one...
Hi. Nice little plane. It reminds me of the James Bond movie and the BD-5.
Cool! Is the skin of the aircraft stainless steel? If so, what is the thickness? Are any major structural components of the airframe made of titanium? Are brakes and flight controls all electrical instead of hydraulic? Is there an APU?
I remember when the BD5J first came out they used to call it the flying coffin.
Totally cool!!!
Scott Manning flew one of these in airshows across the States and Canada twenty years ago. He died in his modified BD5J at Carp, Ontario practising for an upcoming show. Scott ("Archie") Manning was a CFL football player and went to Grand River High School in Kitchener, Ontario. He was 6'4" and had to modify his plane to fit his big frame. I went to school with him in 1976. There is nothing about this plane that wasn't done years ago.
This is smaller than the Horten 229. Amazing.
Amazing
so if you want to eject you just open the window
He's sitting on his parachute and it's already in the plane when he sits down and straps in.
Probably easier to have a whole-plane shute.
Lmao
@@ElectricityTaster Funny!
Micro jet nany's goat! Its a BD-5! Very shiney. I saw this critter in '72 at NAS Pensacola and the gear is as fast as it looks, so it the plane. They killed a bunch of wuffos early on. Bob Beattie wanted to sell it to the Navy as a trainer.
The simplicity is Wisdom
"this is the most fun I ever had.....why?.....because you can look behind and see a pair of wings sitting right there"......Well yes I guess that's comforting to know. when flitting about the sky at 20,000 feet.
This isn't by any means new to the airshow circuit.Ive seen this aircraft a few different times in the late 80's
It was then the Bud light micro jet and it was red and white.I even got to sit in the cockpit when I was 10.
Still very cool to watch impressive little airframe.
incredible engineering. I'll bet that is closing thing to piloting a cruise missile, sans the warhead.
Super cool!
Crazy cool!!
สวยชอบน่าขับ เพิ่มเครื่องเจ็ตเปน 2 jet.ก็ยิ่งดีขึ้นอีก ขอบคุณที่ให้รับชม
This guy is a fucking legend...
I believe it was originally the Bede BD5J. I think it is really cool. I think another company is making them now. I think his - in the video - needs a nice paint job.