BK Fliers BK-1

BK Fliers BK-1
General information
Type	Homebuilt aircraft
Manufacturer	BK Fliers
Designer	Bruce King

BK-1.3: The second aircraft built by the designer with tricycle gear at EAA's AirVenture 2013, Oshkosh, Wisconsin

The original BK Flyer at the Southwest Regional Fly-In, Hondo, Texas. June 1, 2007

The BK Fliers BK-1 is a single seat homebuilt aircraft.

Design and development

The Bk-1 was designed and built by Bruce King in 2004 after building a modified Hummel Bird. It was patterned after the Hummel Bird, with a full VW engine and larger cockpit and surfaces. ^{[1] [2]}

The BK-1 is an all-aluminum, monocoque/semi-monocoque, single-engine, low-wing airplane, with either conventional or tricycle landing gear. The BK-1.3 is a modified version, 30% larger than the original, with full-span flaperons. ^[2]

Variants

• BK-1: Original version, originally with conventional landing gear
• BK-1.3: 30%-larger version, originally with tricycle gear ^[2]

Specifications (BK-1)

Data from Manufacturer ^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
• Wingspan: 19 ft 4 in (5.89 m)
• Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
• Empty weight: 450 lb (204 kg)
• Gross weight: 850 lb (386 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 15 U.S. gallons (57 L; 12 imp gal)
• Powerplant: 1 × VW Great Plains Aircraft Supply Company Volkswagen air-cooled engine, 60 hp (45 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 126 kn (145 mph, 233 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 110 kn (130 mph, 210 km/h)
• Stall speed: 38 kn (44 mph, 71 km/h) Flaperons deployed
• Rate of climb: 750 ft/min (3.8 m/s)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Parker Jeanie's Teenie
• Sonex Aircraft Onex
• Hummel Bird
• Thatcher CX4

References

1. "Build This Airplane for 10 Grand How to get from the dollar store to the runway". Air & Space Magazine. January 2007.
2. Barnes, Sparky, "Bruce King’s Brilliant BK Flier 1.3", April 2014, EAA Experimenter, Vol.3 No.4, Experimental Aircraft Association, retrieved January 6, 2021
3. "BK-1 Specs" . Retrieved 20 August 2013.

External links

• "BK1 Around the Pattern," (builder's demo flight video of conventional-gear BK-1), January 24, 2007, bkfliers.com
• "Building a Plane from Scratch," (news video: interview with BK-1 designer Bruce King and video of his tricycle-gear plane in demo flight), July 16, 2013, KSAT news
• BK Flier builder group