The Osprey VTOL Testbed

[Thor Wotansen]

The Osprey VTOL Testbed is an experimental airplane built to test the amazing new invention, the hinge! It handles well in forward flight, but nobody cares about that. The engine tilting is controlled with the 1 and 0 keys. The 1 key reverses the movement and the 0 key plays/pauses the movement. The Osprey takes off best with a bit of forward cowbell and will tend to pitch up until aerodynamic control can be established, so be quick with the transition to forward thrust once you take off. The plane is unstable in the full down position, but it’s useful for slowing down. To get a true hover you need to adjust the position of the hinges by reversing and play/pausing until the perfect angle is achieved. If you develop any lateral or reverse movement at sub 20m/s airspeed, you will crash. For vertical landing it’s best to carry about 10-15m/s forward velocity just to keep the nose pointing the right way. At that point it’s just a matter of controlling descent rate with the throttle. Enjoy.

KerbalX link