Osprey II Airframe You are bidding on the 95% complete airframe of a plan built Osprey 2 Amphibian 2.



Item specifics
Condition: Used
Osprey II Airframe You are bidding on the 95% complete airframe of a plan-built Osprey 2 Amphibian 2-place aircraft. Probably one of the most popular plan-build aircraft out there with over 500 flying, the plans for the Osprey 2 are still being sold today. The design is simple and well proven. She was designed to be built in a single car garage and is only 8’6” wide (with the wings off) so she can be trailered anywhere. Clean, fast and robust the Osprey 2 amphibian aircraft is was what the Icon A-5 was designed after. I bought this airframe in a more complete state but I wanted bring it into the 21st Century and make mine electric. I gutted the interior (but you can have it with the airframe if you like) and planned on putting a set of ballistic nylon mesh seats and setting up two iPads on the dash to serve as my instruments and charts; a glass cockpit if you will. The plane is set up to run on the standard Lycoming engine (and I left the struts in place for the gas engine) but as i wrote earlier I was going to mount a set of twin, counter-rotating, 50+ hp direct drive electric motor on those struts and use a set of two Chevy Volt battery packs to give me about 2 hours of play time. (I was actually going to rig the co-pilot seat to accommodate a third battery pack in case I wanted to spend more time in the air). If I built it this way I could get it below 1500# and I could categorize it as an EXLSA. More importantly it would lower the CG so that far less top heavy and you wouldn’t need the pontoons built into the wings. If you’re interested I can give you all the details for that as well. I planned on making it strictly a day-time, fair weather toy that could still do 125 knots and have ZERO ($0) cost of operation. I was even going to set up a few solar panels next to her parking hanger to charge her up between jaunts. You could do all this and still be well below the $$$$ for a good, used rebuilt Lycoming. I cleaned out the cockpit completely and ran/re-ran and check out all of the control linkage to all moving surfaces (including the deployable rudder and adjustable trim tab). I did remove the home-made bevel gear that opened the landing gear doors and was going to designing in a lever w/control lines instead; simpler, more robust and would look better. She looks rough in these pictures, but that’s because she’s actually very smooth and ready for paint. To finish her exterior she only needs to have a few more finishing sand jobs (I left undone) be primed and painted with a nice epoxy paint. Her trailing edges need to have fabric applied, but the new iron-on, heat shrink nylon material (Oratex aircraft fabric) is perfect for that job. It would be quick and cheap. You can buy enough skin to do her twice over for less than $500. She’s all here too. I took a few bay doors, access hatches and other stuff off to work on. I even have the rear windows (still covered in plastic). I have kept & worked on her in my humidity controlled workshop as well. I did take out her fuel tank to make room for the batteries but if you decide to go back to gas it would be very easy to put in a better tank. Here’s the history of this airframe: She was almost completed in 1997 when the builder (an old Polish aircraft factory worker) died. He did an incredible job putting her together (I am an ex-fighter pilot and Aerospace Engineer by trade) and I wouldn’t have bought her if I didn’t inspect her down to the last fastener. I even removed some control surfaces to inspect his fabrication methods. The builder had gotten down to the last wing tip when he died so (as you can see in the picture of her starboard wing). He had made a rough cut on the foam but hasn’t put the glass on. I was going to cut both glass/foam tips off and wire in some cloth-covered wing tips with hand-holds (like the Icon A-5)…or maybe some winglets… The trailer is a Karavan Classic, 3,500# rated tandem boat trailer (2 5/16” ball) and in excellent shape . The trailer retails for over $3,000 itself . As you can see in the photos it has a custom skirt for loading and hauling the bird. It’s a well-designed setup. I have all her drawings, blueprints and receipts as well as her wing assembly jigs and a motor test stand. If you’re looking for a nice, fun little project that you can put in the air with minimal time this is it. If you want to spend more coin to deck her out with a nice interior and make her a long range IFR bird this is also the perfect airframe; it’s capabilities are only limited by your imagination. I can deliver her to within a few surrounding states of Florida (I’m in St. Pete) and even have her shrink wrapped for some extra coin, but please ask for a quote on that before you buy. Any questions send me an email. Current date: 2016-07-04