How many orders did the Bede BD-5 receive before sinking its company?

The combination of a fighter-like look and a relatively low price led the BD-5 to sell more than 5,000 kits or plans, with around 12,000 orders taken for a proposed factory-built version certified by the FAA. By August 1971, 800 deposits had already been collected, when the first BD-5 prototype had not yet completed high-speed taxi testing. Before the year was out, the company had amassed more than 4,300 orders, making it one of the most popular general aviation aircraft projects in modern history.

After more than 5,100 kits had been delivered to waiting builders, deliveries also came to a halt. By that point the company was effectively bankrupt.

Bankruptcy became official in 1979, by which time the BD-5 project had long been dead. During the proceedings it emerged that money supposedly spent on building kits was being spent on a variety of other projects. Bede signed a consent decree with the FTC under which it agreed to stop accepting deposits for aircraft for a period of ten years.