Osprey Osprey I

The Osprey GP2 Osprey, also known as the Air Skimmer, Sea Skimmer, or Pereira GP2 Osprey, was a single-seat flying boat designed by Eut Tileston under contract to George Pereira, a private builder. After the release of Pereira's amphibious Osprey II some years later, this aircraft became known retrospectively as the Osprey I. The original plane was designed to be water launched only. Initial test flights were performed in the Sacramento Delta. A single example was evaluated by the United States Navy as the X-28. Pereira formed Osprey Aircraft to market the plans to homebuilders, including plans for a trailer that allows the pilot to launch and recover the aircraft single-handed. These plans are still marketed by Osprey Aircraft as of October 2009.

The Navy became interested in the project through a Naval Air Development Center study into patrol missions in Southeast Asia. The study required that the aircraft be capable of flight under visual flight rules (VFR), be lightweight, cost less than 5,000 US dollars, and be able to be manufactured in Southeast Asia. After examining Pereira's Osprey in 1971, the Navy purchased the aircraft and commenced testing it as the X-28A in the fall of that year. Although the Osprey met most of the requirements of the program, the program itself was cancelled without any further military examples produced. The sole X-28 is now on display in the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum.

Sea skimming

Sea skimming is a technique many anti-ship missiles and some fighter or strike aircraft use to avoid radar and infrared detection during their approach.

Method

Sea skimming anti-ship missiles try to fly as low as is practically achievable, which is almost always below 50 meters (150 ft), and is often down towards 5 meters (15 ft). When under attack, a warship can detect sea-skimming missiles only once they appear over the horizon (about 28 to 46 km from the ship), allowing about 25 to 60 seconds of warning.

Advantages

By flying low to the sea, missiles decrease the range at which the target ships can detect them by a significant amount. Flying at a lower altitude increases the amount of time the missile is under the horizon from the perspective of the target ship, making it harder to detect due to radar clutter from the sea and similar effects. The real-life success of sea skimming depends on its exact implementation, the sophistication of the detection equipment, as well as the infrared and radar signature of the missile. Sea skimming can shave minutes from the available response time that a ship's missile defenses have to work within, making these missiles significantly harder to defend against. Sea skimming can also increase the range of a missile, by relying on ground effects.

X.28

X.28 is an ITU-T standard specifying the interface between asynchronous character-mode data terminal equipment (DTE), such as computer terminals, and a Packet Assembler/Disassembler (PAD) that connects the DTE to a packet switched network such as an X.25 network.

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United States military aircraft designation systems

The United States Military Aircraft Designation System was first designed in 1919 when the US Army's Aeronautical Division became the United States Army Air Service. Before this aircraft were put into service under their manufacturers' designations.

History

United States Army Air Service 1919 to 1924

During this period Type Designations used by the United States Army Air Service were allotted, using two or three letters, which were an abbreviation of the aircraft's purpose. Examples include GA for Ground Attack aircraft; NO for Night Observation aircraft and NBS for Night Bombardment, Short Distance aircraft.

Army aviation 1924 to 1962

From 1924 to 1947 the Air Service, United States Army Air Corps, United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force used a designation system based on mission category, with each model in a category numbered sequentially. In 1947, the designation system was extensively overhauled, with several categories being dispensed with, and others renamed For instance, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star (Pursuit) was redesignated as F-80 (Fighter), while the A-26 medium bomber/attack aircraft was redesignated as the B-26, reusing the designation, the Martin B-26 having retired in the meantime.