Originally Posted by
jonnyloove
The aircraft in question is a light observation aircraft. It is currently being used in jordan in large number teaching the iraqi airforce and army pilots. Its a very stable platform for observation and FLIR camera. Its also employed in border areas for observation duties.
Jonny, you *may* be mistaken here. The airplane you are referring to is the Seabird
http://www.seabirdaviationjordan.com/ A lot of people refer to it as the Optica, but I believe the design is new and different. And mate, I think the Seabird got its start in Australia, while the Edgley is veddy, veddy British.
Differences? For one thing, the Edgley Optica was a nose-dragger and had that ducted-fan propulsion as well as a two-boom tail design
a la Cessna Skymaster (or more accurately, OV-10A).
While the designers of the Seabird may have taken their inspiration from the Optica, the Seabird probably owes more of its actual design to the old Republic Seabee. Like its near-namesake, it has a more conventional unshrouded pusher prop configuration mounted high above the single-boom tail, is a tail-dragger, and the spring-steel main landing gear struts poke out from the fuselage, not from under the wing as in the Edgley.
It is too bad that the Optica never acheived any real success in the market. It was a unique design that could have worked well for police departments all over. But you'll never convince them to forego the ability to hover, oh no! No matter how compelling the numbers are, policeguys will always want to be able to land and help apprehend the perps, not just circle above helplessly like little girly flying metermaids.