Honda Civic, In-line 4 Engine

Type: Reciprocating, 4 cylinders, In-line, Water-cooled

Power rating: 39 kW (52 hp) at 5,000 rpm for Ed seies engines

Displacement: 1.487 L (90.7 cu in)

Bore and Stroke: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Jim Bede began designing a small highly-maneuverable, fully-aerobatic aircraft in 1970. The success of the BD-5 encouraged Bede to offer the plane in kit form for home-built construction. A special power drive system was designed consisting of a belt drive having a fixed ratio between the engine and propeller drive shaft, with a variable drive optional. The engine problems centered around weight/power, cooling, and reliability problems. Finding a suitable engine for the aircraft proved challenging, with Polaris, Hirth, Yenoah, Kawasaki, and Honda Civic engines being tried. Another approach was a turbocharged Honda automobile engine marketed by the Bede-Micro organization of San Jose, California.

This Honda Civic engine is an automotive power plant, not converted to aircraft use, and acquired as a spare engine for the museum’s Bede BD-5B aircraft, which was powered by a Honda Civic EB-2 turbocharged engine rated at 75 kW (101 shp).