On 12 April 2014 Lee Behel set out from Mojave Airport to break two records, the 3,000m climb and the 3k speed run. Flying his V-8 powered George Pereira designed GP-5, he managed to reach 3,000 meters (or 9,842 feet), in exactly two minutes along with achieving a top speed of 372mph on a flat 3k run to take the records.
A high performance, low wing, side-by-side two-seater, of all wood construction. The GP4 is the latest in a series of four aircraft designed by George Pereira.
The GP-4 prototype was finished in April, 1984. Extensive flight tests were completed in time to compete for awards at the 1984 EAA Convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. That year at Oshkosh, the GP-4 won both the Grand Champion Custom Built and the Outstanding New Design awards. It is a high performance cross-country type aircraft designed to extract the most speed from the power available. Airfoil selection and drag reduction were primary considerations. The construction is of wood with foam and fiberglass utilized in the cowling and fairing areas. Design strength at full gross is 8G’s positive and 6G’s negative obtained by using a massive, one-piece main spar. The GP-4 aircraft has a manual landing gear retracting system but there is a separate set of plans for a hydraulic landing gear.
Osprey Aircraft also marketed as plans and kits is the Osprey GP-4.
GP-4
Engine: Lycoming IO-360-A1A
Wing Span: 24′
Wing Area: 104 sq ft
Wing Load (full gross): 19.09 lbs/sq ft
Span Loading: 80.45 lbs/sq ft
Length: 21′ 6″
Aspect Ratio: 5.54 to 1
Dihedral: 5 Degrees
Fuel: 54 USGallons
Service Ceiling: 20,000 +
Vmax: 255 mph
Cruise Speed 75%: 240 mph true
V s1 (stall clean): 70 mph
V s0 (indg config): 62 mph
Gross wt: 2000 lb
Empty Weight: 1,260 lb
Useful Load: 740 lb
Baggage: 10.5 sq ft – 75 lbs
Wheel Track: 8′
Wing Airfoil: Laminar 63 Series
Range at 75%: 1,100 mi, 240 mph
Take Off Distance: 600 ft
Landing Distance: 1,200 ft
Climb Rate @ MSL: 2,200 fpm
Seats: 2
Cabin width: 40 in
Landing gear: retractable nose wheel
GP-4
Engine: Subaru EG33 6 Cyl
Prop: 4 blade elect CS prop.
Cruise: 150Kt @ 35 lts/hr
Fuel capacity: 200 lt.
Design and construction of the two place Osprey 2 amphibian began early in 1972 following development of a military version, the U.S. Navy X-28A Air Skimmer, for civil police use in Southeast Asia. The designer, George Pereira, evolved a unique construction technique for the single-place Osprey I by coating the underside of the all-wood fuselage structure with polyurethane foam, later sculptured to the desired shape and covered with several protective layers of fiberglass bonded with resin. The result is a light, strong structure able to resist the shock of hard water landings.
The pusher engine is a Lycoming O-320 flat-four of 160 hp mounted on a pedestal so the prop wash blows directly over the cruciform tail surfaces. Wings are of all-wood construction with a single box spar, while the landing gear for use on land is of the retractable tricycle type. The wings just outboard of the main gear are removable for towing and home storage.
The Osprey 2 was designed to be built, in its entirety, in a workshop with no molds required, and first flew in 1973.
Detailed construction plans are available. They consist of 46 sheets, drawn with amateur builder in mind, plus step-by-step, photo illustrated, construction manual. Price 1982: $3,690 (Excludes engine, propeller, Instruments and paint). Units delivered to June 1981: 500.
Seats: 2
Engine: Lycoming 150-160 hp
Length: 21 ft
Cabin Width: 43 in
Wing Span: 26 ft
Wing Area: 130 sq ft
Wing Load (full gross): 10.09 lbs/sq ft
Span Loading: 80.45 lbs/sq ft
Aspect Ratio: 5.2
Dihedral: 5 Degrees
Gross Weight: 1,560 lb
Empty Weight: 960 lb
Useful Load: 420 lb
Fuel: 32 USG
Baggage: 10.5 sq ft – 75 lbs
Wheel Track: 8′
Wing Airfoil: 23012
Range at 75%: 500 +
Takeoff run (land): 300 ft
Takeoff run (water) 520 ft
Landing roll 600 ft
Climb Rate @ MSL: 1,200 fpm
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
The Osprey 1 is a single-seat flying boat designed and built by George Pereira in 1970. First flown on 12 August 1970 it is built from fir and pine, with the vertical fin an integral part of the structure. The hull is skinned with mahogany plywood and glassed. The steel-tube pylon mount for the engine is bolted to the wing center section. A simple wing-folding mechanism holds the wings in position with the same steel pin which locks them in the ex¬tended position. Power is provided by a 90-hp Continental.
N3337 was re-named X-28 158786 when the US Navy commissioned the Naval Air Development Center to do a study for reconnaissance flights in the Mekong Delta during the Viet Nam war. The aircraft was evaluated with three other entries and selected for production in South East Asia. George was asked to help set up production; however, the war ended before production plans were finalized. The X-28A is on display in the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum.
The Osprey 1 was designed with folding or removable outboard wings and launched from a boat type trailer. It is very light weight (600 lb), and 90 hp gives remarkable water and climb performance.
Complete plans (including the trailer) were available for $150 U.S. plus $20 U.S. for overseas.
Engine: Continental C-90-12, 90 hp
Length: 17’ 9”
Wingspan: 24’ 9”
Height: 5’ 3”
Wing area: 103 sq.ft
Empty: 600 lb
MTOW: 900 lb
Fuel capacity 16 USG
Maximum speed: 135 mph
Top level speed: 120 mph
Cruise 105 mph
Stall 55 mph
Range: 370 miles
Service ceiling: 17,994 ft
Rate of climb: ft/min 2,200
Takeoff run: 200 ft
Wing loading: lb/sq.m 9 sq. ft.
Crew: 1
1980-96: George Pereira, 3741 EI Ricon, Sacramento, CA 95825, USA.
Osprey Aircraft also marketed as plans and kits.
Minden NV.
USA
Circa 1994 built Bede BD-5 variant
The Billing biplane was crashed on 4 October 1911 by N.S. Percival, who rebuilt it as the Percival Parseval I at the end of 1911-1912.
A gas turbine development of the Provost, Jet Provost first flew on June 26 1954, powered by a 1,640 1b. Armstrong Siddeley Viper ASV.5 jet engine. Initially the Jet Provost appeared without a dorsal fin, which was fitted for a while and then removed and replaced by a long ventral fin. Another modification was the sweeping forward of the leading edge wing roots just outboard of the cheek intakes.
Percival P.84 Jet Provost Article
After trials, it went to No. 2 Flying Training School at Hullavington for the first all-through (Jet Provost to Vampire) jet flying training course. Production deliveries began in 1959.
Early versions had the prototypes long, stalky undercarriage, but from the 11th aircraft a shorter one was introduced.
The T.3 was the basic trainer for the Royal Air Force until the mid-1970s, when the up-graded T.4 was introduced.
The Jet Provost T.3, together with the more powerful T.4, with an up rated Viper ASV.11 with 2,500 lb thrust, for night, instrument and formation flying, plus aerobatics, served with the RAF, the T.4 entering service in 1961.
In 1964 the original designers of the Jet Provost responded to the need for a pressurised version and began private work on the design. The Jet Provost T5 differed externally from earlier versions by a re-designed hood and a more bulbous shape to accommodate the pressurised cockpit.
The prototype T5 made its first flight on 28 February 1967. A total of 110 Jet Provost T5s were produced for the Royal Air Force and the first was handed over to the Central Flying School on 3 September 1969. Between 1973 and 1976, ninety-three were modified by an upgrade in avionics equipment and became T5As.
The rough grey coating on the wing of the aircraft was applied in order to break up the smooth airflow and give an early indication of the onset of a stall as the T5’s original clean wing design gave the pilot little prior warning.
Export versions were the T.51 and 52.
The T.5 was further developed into the BAC 167 Strikemaster.
T.3
Engine: 1 x 1,750 lbs.t. (822 kgp) Bristol Siddeley Viper 102
T.4
Engine: Bristol Siddeley Viper 201, ASV8 or ASV11, 2500 lb
TO dist: 1030 ft
Ldg dist: 1415 ft
Time to 30,000ft: 13.3min
Wing span: 36 ft 11 in (11.25 m)
Length: 32 ft 5 in (9.88 m)
Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.11 m)
Wing area, 213.7 sq.ft (19.8 sq.m)
Empty wt: 4,650 lb (2 110 kg)
Max TO wt: 7400 lb (3356 kg)
Max speed, 411 mph (661 kph) at 20,000ft (6096 m)
Cruise, 280 mph (451 kph)
Initial climb, 3,950 fpm. (20 m/sec)
Range: 1075 km / 668 miles
Crew: 2
T.4A
T.5
Engine: RR Viper 201, 2500 lb thrust
Length: 33.99 ft / 10.36 m
Height: 10.171 ft / 3.1 m
Wingspan: 35.335 ft / 10.77 m
Wing area: 213.127 sq.ft / 19.8 sq.m
Max take off weight: 9122.1 lb / 4137.0 kg
Weight empty: 5490.5 lb / 2490.0 kg
Max. speed: 382 kts / 708 km/h
Service ceiling: 36745 ft / 11200 m
Wing loading: 42.85 lb/sq.ft / 209.0 kg/sq.m
Range: 782 nm / 1448 km
Crew: 2
Armament: 2 MG 7,62FN/550rds, 1000kg (8x ext.)
T.5A
Engine: RR Viper 202
Cruise: 310 kts.
In 1951, a Helicopter Division was formed by Hunting Percival and design work commenced on a medium-sized helicopter designated P.74.
The P.74 was intended as a demonstrator for a new type of helicopter. It worked on the tip-jet principle, but the P.74 had a gas generator under the cabin floor which fed compressed air through triple ducts to the three-bladed rotor, each blade of which had triple ejector ducts. The hot and noisy gas pipes running up the cabin walls between rows of seats. The rotor blades were not adjusted by actuators at the hubs as on most helicopters but by ailerons on the trailing edges. Pitch was controlled with a screw jack.
This machine had a teardrop-shaped fuselage with the two-seat cockpit in the nose and a large cabin running the full length of the fuselage. The P.74’s undercarriage consisted of four wheels, the forward two of which were castoring. There was no entrance door or escape hatch near the cockpit. The only way in or out was the door at the rear of the port side of the fuselage.
The prototype was completed in the spring of 1956, carrying the military serial number XK889. Months of testing in a static rig showed up many problems with the power system, which refused to develop full power and maximum gas flow. Finally these problems were fixed and a first flight attempted. Despite the efforts of two pilots on the very stiff controls, the P.74 resolutely refused to fly. One engineer associated with the project says that a consultant designer used the wrong formula for calculating lift. All the figures added up but the P.74 went nowhere. It was ordered to be towed across the airfield out of sight, and that is about the last anyone heard of it.
Plans to fit a more powerful Rolls-Royce RB.108 turbine engine (which should have got the P.74 into the air) were abandoned when the helicopter industry was rationalized. A proposed 10-passenger model called P.105 using the Oryx system was never built.
Hunting Percival P.74
Engines: 2 x Napier Oryx
Rotor diameter: 16.77 m
Max take-off weight: 3518 kh
Cruising speed: 178 kph
Ceiling: 8530 m
Range: 530 km
The Percival Pembroke was a British high-wing twin-engined light transport aircraft built by the Percival Aircraft Company, later Hunting Percival.
The Pembroke was a development of the Percival Prince civil transport. The Pembroke is basically an eight seat Service transport developed from the Prince 3 and Sea Prince, with increased span and rearward facing passenger seats. The prototype flew on 21 November 1952.
Percival P.66 Pembroke Article
Production for the RAF and the Air Forces of Belgium, Southern Rhodesia and Sweden was complete in early 1958. Sixteen Pembroke C.52s were obtained by the Swedish Air Force in 1955 and designated Tp-83s.
The Pembroke C.1 were used as eight seat communications aircraft and a version with a clear-view nose and camera stations in the main cabin fr air survey and photography was in service in the Belgian Air Force in 1956.
A civil version known as the Prince Series 5 was under development. Appearing as the President, the first airline order for Presidents was placed in 1957 by a Spanish local operator.
Percival Pembroke C Mk.1
Engine : 2 x Alvis Leonides 127, 533 hp
Length : 46 ft 0 in / 14.02 m
Height : 16.076 ft / 4.9 m
Wingspan : 64 ft 6 in / 19.66 m
Max take off weight : 13503.4 lb / 6124.0 kg
Max. speed : 162 kt / 300 km/h
Service ceiling : 21982 ft / 6700 m
Range : 999 nm / 1850 km
Crew : 2 + 8
