Aero-TV: Gratia’s Revived BD-4C is Ready For the Skies

Iconic Kit Returning to the Market in an All-Inclusive, Significantly Modernized Package

Decades after Jim Bede introduced the BD-4 as one of aviation’s original true kitplanes, a later version of the design is preparing to hit the shelves once again under the Gratia Aero banner. The revived BD-4C was brought to Oshkosh as essentially a completed project backed by a stocked warehouse and ready-to-go builder assist facility.

Gratia’s BD-4C approach prioritizes comprehensiveness. With one $287k check, customers get the standard airframe with a ballistic parachute, electric air conditioning and heating, a heads-up display, systems monitoring tech infrared camera, LIDAR altimeter, oxygen system, an integrated network system using Starlink and 4G LTE connectivity, and practically any avionics add-on they could dream of.

Buyers will also be automatically lumped into Gratia’s brand-new San Pedro builder assist program, requiring about four spread-out three-day sessions to get the project done. Customization is limited, mostly including cosmetics like paint and upholstery, but also recently adapting a second engine choice.

The powerplant offerings include a 195-hp Viking engine or a 240-hp MW Fly turbocharged option, generating 180-200 knot performance cruise speeds. Useful load is listed at around 1,100 pounds, with a projected range between 800 and 1,000 nautical miles.

The project has been years in the making, taking thousands of hours of tweaking and reviewing feedback to get to its final form: an impressively complete and capable kit at a fairly builder-friendly price point.

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