Osprey

[jtprouty]

Hi All,

I've started test flying my newest project, the Osprey, and am extremely happy with how it's flying. Thought I'd post a picture of it here.

Jimmy

[Tom Harper]

Very impressive!

Your design? How about some specs.

Tom

[jtprouty]

Yep, 100% mine. It's a 2.2 meter span and the airframe weighs 2 lbs 9 oz without the battery. The wing halves come off and the whole thing can be transported in a plastic golf bag case with plenty of room for other things (that's normally how I transport it when on the road.)

The fuselage is fiberglass and the wings are fiberglass over foam with carbon and Kevlar used for reinforcement. It doesn't have landing gear but has removalbe/replaceable skids if needed for landing on paved strips. (The skids aren't installed on the plane in the pictures.) It's proven to be pretty robust and has survived a couple of incidents on takeoff and landing with no structural damage (a bad hand launch once and landing in the wrong area the second time.)

On all of my designs I like to leave the center payload section open to allow for installation of different payloads without changing the CG. I will be installing a retractable pan/tilt system with video down link as well as a downward looking still digital camera for vertical photography. There are large hatches forward and aft that let me easily access the entire inside of the fuselage.

Jimmy

[Tom Harper]

Thanks - beautiful job!

[BeefStake]

Wow very nice bird.
Love the undercarriage/tail-less design.

[osprey]

i want one :)

look at my nic. :D

[airmcn_3]

Very nice bird!!!!!!!!!!


You going to offer it as a turn key UAS?

Chris

[jtprouty]

Thanks for the kind comments. :)

Chris,

I will be offering it in different packages from a simple UAV trainer through full up UAS with downlink and video capability. I'm in the process of shaking her down right now and want to try some different motor/prop combinations to get the longest duration that I can out of her. Once I have that done I'll be switching to a folding prop so I won't have to worry about breaking props on landing (only broke one so far and that was due to a premature landing caused by a fault in my speed control.)

Here's a better picture of the Osprey on the ground that shows the sweep on the wings a little better.

Jimmy

[ios]

Your Osprey looks fantastic,.. something I would really enjoy flying!

Any stats on flight times/endurance at this stage?

I *really* like it,... well done! :)

[jtprouty]

No performance stats yet. It's been too windy here in Maize KS to fly (20+ MPH) so I need to wait until it calms down. I'm switching out my speed control right now as well.

Here's a picture of a fuselage I just pulled out of the mold. You can see how my design philosophy works out for maximum access to the payload area of the plane while keeping the fuselage structurally sound.

Jimmy

[RolandS888]

Very nice Jim, any chance you might be selling just the airframe, for those who like to DIY?
Also, be carefull with folding props in a pusher config, i have had one not open properly and the vibration tore the motor off the fuze.
Very nice work though.
R.

[jtprouty]

Thanks again for the kind words. I plan to offer everything from the basic airframe up through a fully loaded RTF version. Right now I'm concentrating on flight testing and making sure it's as durable as I want it to be. So far everything is looking really good.

Jimmy

[jtprouty]

Hi All,

I just got back from flying the Osprey again and had my son take a video of the plane during bungee launch. It was completely stable and climbed very steeply. Unfortunately, my motor is giving me problems right now and I had to land right away (was going to fly some waypoints this time.) Sorry for the jerkiness of the video as my son isn't very steady with the camera yet.

Jimmy

http://vimeo.com/5649672

[airmcn_3]

Hi All,

I just got back from flying the Osprey again and had my son take a video of the plane during bungee launch. It was completely stable and climbed very steeply. Unfortunately, my motor is giving me problems right now and I had to land right away (was going to fly some waypoints this time.) Sorry for the jerkiness of the video as my son isn't very steady with the camera yet.

Jimmy

http://vimeo.com/5648941


Ya Man! Nice bird!

[jtprouty]

Flight testing continues and I'm really pleased with the plane. It's very stable and light on the sticks. I've moved the CG back from the original forward position with great results.

This week I integrated the digital camera into the plane and have been doing some testing with it. I've included one picture from the last flight as well as a video shot looking down. (Might want to fast forward on the video at the beginning.)

During one of the flights today I was able to thermal for three minutes and managed to gain some altitude. With the flight battery and the camera installed I'm just under 4 pounds.

The airframe is proving to be extremely durable as well. While goofing around on my last flight I did a couple of loops and managed to shake the flight battery lose. It shifted the CG forward and I didn't realize until I flared to land - I flared but the plane didn't! It hit pretty hard with no damage to the fuselage or wing. Unfortunately, my digital camera didn't do so well!

Jimmy

http://vimeo.com/5774740

[tekrunner]

Any info yet on the price range for just the airframe? I think every single person from the FPV forum and diydrones is going to want atleast one. Hope you have a massive production facility in the works :)

[jtprouty]

Still working on the pricing for it. It's going to be less than most of the composite gliders but, unfortunately, it won't be cheap. The materials and techniques used to build it drive up the cost. I'll keep you posted.

Jimmy

[voiceafx]

Very cool airplane - nice job.

[JeffElecRC]

Very Nice!
I would definitely be interested in buying an airframe kit!

[tekrunner]

Still working on the pricing for it. It's going to be less than most of the composite gliders but, unfortunately, it won't be cheap. The materials and techniques used to build it drive up the cost. I'll keep you posted.

Jimmy



Sounds good, I think you'll still have strong demand!

[jtprouty]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. This plane's been in development for a long time and it's great to finally see it in the air. Have over 10 hours of flying time on it already.

Video camera and downlink have been installed and should be test flown tomorrow.


Jimmy

[JustinONE]

can I buy just the fuse, as I have some custom foils I want to cut and try out?

[jtprouty]

can I buy just the fuse, as I have some custom foils I want to cut and try out?


JustinOne - I haven't decided if I'm going to sell parts individually yet or not. Replacement parts will be available to anyone that buys a complete airframe.

Jimmy

[Yang]

Very nice airplane and very light. What is the weight limit u think it can carry?

[jtprouty]

Thanks, Yang.

It will carry 1kg +. I have it set up so the area around the CG is empty and all payload weight is carried right on the CG. There's no appreciable change in how it flies with or without the payload.

I'm currently fight testing with a digital still camera and a video downlink with a video camera pointing forward. Plan to add my data system downlink in the next week or two.

Jimmy

[Myron]

Jimmy,

Looks great!.. Did you make the molds yourself? If so, are they squish molds or vacuum? Any plans on doing in CF or Kevlar?

Myron

[jtprouty]

Thanks, Myron. I make all of my molds and prefer to do a lap joint on the fuselage while laying it up for maximum strength. That means I can't vacuum bag them. I don't plan to use any carbon or Kevlar in the fuse at this point. Carbon can interfere with systems in the plane and makes it difficult to harden the electronics against RFI. If I find a need for additional strength I'll add carbon in the specific areas that it's needed.

I designed the fuse for maximum strength using fiberglass and it's proven to be very rugged. The first launch was straight into the ground (bad launch) with no damage. Since then I've managed to hit a large clump of dirt in a plowed field and stall it on landing when my battery shifted forward - still no damage so at this point I don't see any reason to use the more exotic materials in the fuse. They are, however, used in the wing.

Flew it in 25 mph winds the other day and it did great. Managed nice straight legs between waypoints and hit all the waypoints like there wasn't any wind. Really weird to watch it crab at almost 45 degrees as it tracked to the next waypoint.

Jimmy

[Gary Mortimer]

Please keep me in the price loop Jimmy

G

[jtprouty]

Will do, Gary.

[Makin]

Yep, 100% mine. It's a 2.2 meter span and the airframe weighs 2 lbs 9 oz without the battery. The wing halves come off and the whole thing can be transported in a plastic golf bag case with plenty of room for other things (that's normally how I transport it when on the road.)

The fuselage is fiberglass and the wings are fiberglass over foam with carbon and Kevlar used for reinforcement. It doesn't have landing gear but has removalbe/replaceable skids if needed for landing on paved strips. (The skids aren't installed on the plane in the pictures.) It's proven to be pretty robust and has survived a couple of incidents on takeoff and landing with no structural damage (a bad hand launch once and landing in the wrong area the second time.)

On all of my designs I like to leave the center payload section open to allow for installation of different payloads without changing the CG. I will be installing a retractable pan/tilt system with video down link as well as a downward looking still digital camera for vertical photography. There are large hatches forward and aft that let me easily access the entire inside of the fuselage.

Jimmy
I am interest for vertical photography, spec please

thx
Maxin

[jtprouty]

It works well for vertical photography. I've attached a panorama that I took of a local field that was taken before I had Atto tuned properly (thus the winding track.) Unfortunately I broke the camera (being stupid) and haven't been able to get any more pix since I've tuned Atto. Will get more soon, I hope.

Jimmy

[downeym]

Still working on the pricing for it. It's going to be less than most of the composite gliders but, unfortunately, it won't be cheap. The materials and techniques used to build it drive up the cost. I'll keep you posted.

Jimmy

any update on pricing and manufacturing dates?

[jtprouty]

I've got five Ospreys in various stages of construction at this point and will be starting a production run as well. Please contact me off-list for more information on pricing.

Jimmy