Osprey Osprey 2

GP3 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 GP3 Osprey 2, also known as the Pereira GP3 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.^[5][4] 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.^[4] These remain currently available.^[1]

Aircraft on display

Examples of the Osprey 2 are displayed at the EAA AirVenture Museum^[7] and the Pima Air & Space Museum.^[8]

Specifications

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

General characteristics

• Crew: One pilot
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Length: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
• Wingspan: 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m)
• Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
• Wing area: 130 ft² (12.0 m²)
• Empty weight: 970 lb (440 kg)
• Gross weight: 1,560 lb (707 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-320, 150 hp (112 kW)

Performance

• Cruise speed: 130 mph (209 km/h)
• Range: 360 miles (579 km)
• Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Icon A5
• Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey
  

Related lists

• List of seaplanes and flying boats
  

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Osprey Aircraft Website
2. ^ Taylor 1989, p.714
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Markowski 1979, p.220
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1985–86, p.606
5. ^ Markowski 1979, p.223
6. ^ Markowski 1979, p.224
7. ^ AirVenture Museum website
8. ^ Pima Air & Space Museum website

References

• Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1985–86. London: Jane's Publishing. 
• Markowski, Michael (1979). The Encyclopedia of Homebuilt Aircraft. Blue Ridge Summit: TAB Books. 
• "Osprey II". Osprey Aircraft website. http://www.ospreyaircraft.com/osprey.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-28. 
• "Pereira/Hummel Model 2 Osprey 2". Pima Air & Space Museum website. http://www.pimaair.org/collection-detail.php?cid=221. Retrieved 2008-12-28. 
• "Pereira/Schifferer Osprey II – N346JS". AirVenture Museum website. http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Pereira-Schifferer%20Osprey%20II.asp. Retrieved 2008-12-28. 
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.