Osprey 2
Introduction
The Osprey 2 is a two-place amphibian with retractable landing gear designed in the early 1970's by George Pereira who also designed the GP-4 and single place Osprey 1. It is constructed in all wood, being built much like a large model airplane. The wings just outboard of the main gear are removable for towing and home storage.
The Osprey 2 is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with a flying boat hull and a single engine mounted pusher-fashion in a nacelle mounted above the fuselage on struts.[1] A passenger seat is provided side-by-side with the pilot and the cabin is fully enclosed.[1] Retractable tricycle undercarriage is provided for land operations, the main units of which fold into the undersides of the wings.[2][1] Construction throughout is of wood and skinned in plywood.[2] Some of the hull contours are formed with polyurethane foam covered in fiberglass.[1][3] The sloping canopy was designed to allow a smooth airflow into the propeller and provide good visibility. When beaching, the pedestal style instrument panel allows you to step out over the nose onto the beach.
The aircraft is designed so that it may be constructed by amateur builders with restricted space available – Pereira's prototype was built in a workspace 16 ft × 26 ft (4.8 m × 7.9 m) and took 1,300 hours to complete.[2] To simplify construction, no molds are required, and even the canopy is formed by a simple bend in an acrylic sheet without any compound curves.[4]
Osprey markets the aircraft as sets of plans rather than kits, and had sold over 1,000 copies by 1985.[1] Over 500 examples have been completed and flown.[5] Detailed construction plans are available at the designers website consisting of 46 sheets, drawn with amateur builder in mind, plus step-by-step, photo illustrated, construction manual. See [page for more details.]
The Osprey 2 aircraft first flown in April 1973, has been featured in many publications and magazine covers, has been awarded for it's performance and quality of design.
Details taken from:
Performance Specifications
data taken from the designers website: http://www.ospreyaircraft.com/specs.htm Retrieved 2017-01-04
- Seats: 2
- Cabin Width: 43 in.
- Gross Weight: 1,560 lbs.
- Empty Weight: 960 lbs.
- Useful Load: 420 lbs.
- Baggage: 10.5 sq ft - 75 lbs
- Wheel Track: 8'
- Engine: Lycoming 150-160 HP
- Wing Airfoil: 23012
- Range at 75%: 500 +
- Take Off Distance: 400 ft.
- Landing Distance: 700 ft.
- Climb Rate @ MSL: 1,200 fpm
- Wing Span: 26'
- Wing Area: 130 sq ft
- Wing Load (full gross): 10.09 lbs/sq ft
- Span Loading: 80.45 lbs/sq ft
- Length: 21'
- Aspect Ratio: 5.2
- Dihedral: 5 Degrees
- Fuel: 32 Gallons
- Service Ceiling: 20,000 +
- Vmax: 150 mph
- Cruise Speed 75%: 130 mph true
- V s1 (stall clean): 65 mph
- V s0 (indg config): 60 mph
Notes
- [| Yahoo Message Board for Osprey 2]
- [| Yahoo Group for Osprey 2 Newsletters]
- Building the Osprey 2 Lessons Learned
