Osprey Osprey 2

Osprey 2
Osprey 2
Role Sport amphibian
National origin United States
Manufacturer Homebuilt
Designer George Pereira
First flight April 1973
Number built 500+ (2009)[1]


Osprey II

The Osprey Osprey 2, also known as the Pereira Osprey 2 after its designer, is an amphibious sport aircraft designed for homebuilding.[2] Plans have been sold since the mid-1970s. George Pereira designed the Osprey 2 to address the two most frequent criticisms of his Osprey I aircraft: its lack of a passenger seat and its inability to operate from dry land.[3] An exercise that began as a series of modifications to the original design in January 1972 eventually turned into a complete redesign of the aircraft,[3][4] with the resulting Osprey 2 flying in April 1973.

Design and development

Like the original Osprey, 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.[4] A passenger seat is provided side-by-side with the pilot and the cabin is fully enclosed.[4] Retractable tricycle undercarriage is provided for land operations, the main units of which fold into the undersides of the wings.[3][4] Construction throughout is of wood and skinned in plywood.[3] Some of the hull contours are formed with polyurethane foam covered in fiberglass.[4][5]

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.[3] 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.[6]

Osprey markets the aircraft as sets of plans rather than kits, and had sold over 1,000 copies by 1985.[1][4] Over 500 examples have been completed and flown.[7]

Aircraft on display

Specifications

Data from jane's All the World's Aircraft 1985–86, p.606

General characteristics

Performance


See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
Related lists

Notes

  1. 1 2 Osprey Aircraft Website
  2. Taylor 1989, p.714
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Markowski 1979, p.220
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1985–86, p.606
  5. Markowski 1979, p.223
  6. Markowski 1979, p.224
  7. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 114. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
  8. AirVenture Museum website
  9. Pima Air & Space Museum website

References

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