". . . it's a nice "whiz-bang NEATO!" thing but still after ALL THESE YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT ISN'T SAFE. FAA won't approve them for Civil Aviation for all their design faults." Why the V-22 Osprey is Unsafe.
"G2mil's March article, V-22 Alternatives describes why V-22s are not shipboard compatible. This has been known by those profiting from the V-22 program for a decade. This is why they avoided deploying V-22s with naval task forces. However, all the CH-46Es have been retired from the East Coast, so V-22s were forced to deploy last month with the 22nd MEU. They deployed only 10, rather than the standard 12 with the CH-46E, because V-22s are twice their size." Read the rest of Tom's insightful analysis here.
Sean Linnane write: Thanks for this info, Tom. I was aware of the controversy surrounding the V-22, from the inception of the military program, but not in such detail. In late 2007 I observed a large number of MV-22's in the air and on the airstrip at Camp Lejeune, NC. At that time my impression was 'Thank God I'm retiring and will never be forced to get onto one of those science fiction-looking eggbeaters.'
There's a standard line the military aviators always say about the Airborne: "I don't know why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane."
Let me say it proud and say it loud: I am not an aviator, I am Airborne. I ride around in birds I don't fly them, and always, always, ALWAYS I prefer to jump out of them rather than land in them.
Yesterday I watched eight of these babies land at Camp MacKall Airfield, NC - it was like a scene out of a science fiction movie.
I was aware that the idea of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft with helicopter-like rotors at the wingtips is not new, but I had no idea that the concept originated in the 1930s.
On second thought I guess this makes sense when you consider all the Buck Rogers gee-whizbang coolness they were throwing around back then . . .
The first design resembling modern tiltrotors was patented by George Lehberger in May 1930, but he did not further develop the concept. In World War II, a German prototype, called the Focke-Achgelis FA-269 was developed starting in 1942, but never flew.
The Bell XV-3 - first flown on 11 August 1955 - was a tiltrotor aircraft developed by Bell Helicopter for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army. the XV-3 had the engines in the fuselage and drive shafts transferring power out to tilting wingtip rotor assemblies. It was fitted with ejection seats; they were never needed but would have fired downward. (YIPES ! ! ! - S.L.)
XV-15 in takeoff mode.
What was to ultimately become the XV-15 originated in 1971 as a concept at NASA Ames Research Center. The first of two Bell XV-15s first flew on May 3, 1977.
Force Recon Marines conduct military freefall (HALO) ops from an Osprey.
The aircraft designation "V-22 Osprey" was given on 15 January 1985. The USMC variant received the MV-22 designation and the Air Force variant received CV-22. This was reversed from normal procedure to prevent Marine Ospreys from having similar designations as aircraft carriers (CV). Full-scale development of the V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft began in 1986. The first V-22 was rolled out in May 1988. The initial operators are the United States Marine Corps and Air Force; the Army left the program citing a need to focus its budget on more immediate aviation programs.
On 17 September 2007, ten MV-22Bs of VMM-263 deployed for Iraq aboard the USS Wasp. They are primarily used in Iraq's western Anbar province for routine cargo and troop movements, and also for riskier "aero-scout" missions. The V-22 flew 3,000 sorties, racking up 5,200 hours in Iraq as of July 2008. USMC leadership expect to deploy MV-22s to Afghanistan in 2009. OK let me kill two myths right here - the V-22 Osprey CAN fold for compact storage (for maritime operations) . . .
For compact storage and transport, the V-22's wing rotates to align, front-to-back, with the fuselage.
. . . and it IS possible to fastrope the Osprey:
AFSOC Operators Fast Rope and Hoist out CV-22 Osprey, Hurlburt Field, Florida.
Operational Units:
United States Air Force
o 8th Special Operations Squadron (8 SOS) at Hurlburt Field, Florida o 71st Special Operations Squadron (71 SOS) at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico o 20th Special Operations Squadron (20 SOS) at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico
United States Marine Corps
o VMM-162 o VMM-261 o VMM-263 o VMM-264 o VMM-266 o VMM-365 o VMMT-204 - Training squadron o VMX-22 - Marine Tiltrotor Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron
Sean Linnane is the pseudonym of a retired Special Forces career NCO (1st SFG, 3d SFG, 10th SFG). I served with honor on five continents; I continue to serve in other capacities.
