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His aircraft are the mite stuff - Mini-jets mimic cruise missiles in military drills
[Tucson] Arizona Daily Star ^
| 05.15.2006
| Dan Sorenson
Posted on 05/15/2006 5:18:54 PM PDT by IonImplantGuru
Some days Bob Bishop works in an office.
Some days he straps himself into a 12-foot-long mini-jet, screams across the treetops at nearly 300 mph as paid professional plane killers in military jet fighters try to wax him.
"It's like playing a video game," says Bishop, president of Aerial Productions International Inc., which operates out of Marana Regional Airport, 11700 W. Avra Valley Road.
His company provides four BeDe 5 mini-jets that pretend to be enemy cruise missiles so U.S. military pilots can practice shooting them down.
Bishop says the planes started off in the 1970s as personal commuter planes, sort of a flying Volkswagen Bug.
His first association with the little planes was as a demo pilot and salesman. The original engine, a two-stroke snowmobile engine that pushed a rear-mounted pusher propeller, wasn't reliable not a good trait in a single-engine aircraft.
It was replaced by a tiny jet turbine engine. It was still not a hit.
Eventually, Bishop started his own company, flying the planes at air shows as the Coors Silver Bullet or the Budweiser plane.
....
Since 2000 he's been working strictly for the U.S. Defense Department, playing the part of the flying fox to the military's flying hounds.
"I don't do air shows anymore. Air shows don't pay enough."
....
(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...
TOPICS: Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: cruisemissle; minijet
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Nifty little 'pocket rocket'; below is the BD5 back in the airshow days.
To: Aeronaut
2
posted on
05/15/2006 5:20:04 PM PDT
by
IonImplantGuru
(Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.)
To: IonImplantGuru
3
posted on
05/15/2006 5:22:58 PM PDT
by
patton
(Once you steal a firetruck, there's really not much else you can do except go for a joyride.)
To: IonImplantGuru
I want to know how much does one of them little boogers cost cause I want one for Christmas! :)
4
posted on
05/15/2006 5:24:49 PM PDT
by
TSgt
(Extreme vitriol and rancorous replies served daily. - Mike W USAF)
To: IonImplantGuru
If he is doing more than 250 knots (287 mph) below 10,000 feet without ATC permission he will get his tail in a crack. Most likely this is just another uninformed newsie making up a fantasy story.
5
posted on
05/15/2006 5:33:13 PM PDT
by
Don Corleone
(Leave the gun..take the cannoli)
To: MikeWUSAF
I saw one of those in a car dealership in St Louis. It's amazing to see a jet that is smaller than a car.
6
posted on
05/15/2006 5:39:21 PM PDT
by
Big Giant Head
(I should change my tagline to "Big Giant Pancake on my Head")
To: Big Giant Head
When I saw it, I thought it was a prop. Until I saw it fly! That thing really screamed! Great show.
7
posted on
05/15/2006 5:43:10 PM PDT
by
realpatriot
(Some spelling errers entionally included!)
To: IonImplantGuru
I remember seeing that cute little sucker at NAS Mirimar during an airshow back in the early 80s.
Sweet!
8
posted on
05/15/2006 5:43:19 PM PDT
by
Ronin
(Ut iusta esse, lex noblis severus necesse est.)
To: Don Corleone
I'm sure they are doing it over secured military terrain, not over suburbs.
9
posted on
05/15/2006 5:44:59 PM PDT
by
Sender
(“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” – Old Chinese proverb)
To: IonImplantGuru
10
posted on
05/15/2006 5:48:55 PM PDT
by
fso301
To: IonImplantGuru
$hit. My job just plain sucks in comparison.
Why did I have to read this?
11
posted on
05/15/2006 5:50:42 PM PDT
by
rlmorel
("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
To: patton
I said the same thing "THAT is a cool job"
12
posted on
05/15/2006 5:51:08 PM PDT
by
Crim
(I may be a Mr "know it all"....but I'm also a Mr "forgot most of it"...)
To: Don Corleone
What is the average velocity of a sparrow?
IF he is carrying a coconut....
13
posted on
05/15/2006 5:54:46 PM PDT
by
Crim
(I may be a Mr "know it all"....but I'm also a Mr "forgot most of it"...)
To: realpatriot
Speaking of props, I sat in the propellor version of the BD-5 back in the late 70s. Fit like a glove and the control was a side stick. I had an AA5 Traveler (4 place, fixed gear), also designed by Jim Bede.
To: IonImplantGuru
15
posted on
05/15/2006 6:48:00 PM PDT
by
A. Pole
(It is better to have $5M and live in Weston, MA than to have $20M and to live in Bogota.)
To: Don Corleone
They do this over MOA's and not the nearest local town.
16
posted on
05/15/2006 7:22:29 PM PDT
by
biff
To: NewHampshireDuo
I was just a college kid, passing through, back in Jan. 74 when I sat in a prop version, minus the engine, in the Bede showroom at Newton, KS airport.
A customer was there that had purchased a BD-5 kit. Jim Bede gave us both a tour of the place, and a ride in a BD-4 (high wing, four place). He put it through some nice maneuvers. Compared to the Piper Tri-pacer I was accustomed to flying, the bird's handling and simple construction impressed me, but I never followed it's history. Maybe it wasn't as great a plane as it seemed to me at the time. Or maybe flying a C-310 occasionally in the years following helped put it out of my mind. But the BD-5J must be a thrill ride like no other.
17
posted on
05/15/2006 7:51:48 PM PDT
by
Zuriel
(Acts 2:38,39....nearly 2,000 years and still working today!)
To: Crim
18
posted on
05/15/2006 7:53:50 PM PDT
by
Boiler Plate
(Mom always said why be difficult, when with just a little more effort you can be impossible.)
To: IonImplantGuru; KevinDavis
Thanks, for the Pic. :D
Aviation ping.
19
posted on
05/15/2006 8:21:57 PM PDT
by
skinkinthegrass
(Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you....... :^)
To: fso301
Does Tom Cruise have one?
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