Warbird Information Exchange

after a checkered start, much scrutiny from the government bean counters, numerous crashes & some with fatalities..... how is the osprey tilt rotor now doing?? have all the bugs & quirks been fixed?? is it finally earning it's pay?? i've heard nothing recently. seems as if the pentagon is still keeping a lid on the project to save face.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I don't know about the bugs, but they are still training Osprey pilots. My nephew is in the Air Force/Army chopper program at Rucker and he said a select few eventually wind up as Osprey pilots.

Steve G

The Marines have had the MV-22 operational for about two years, and deployed them to Iraq last year.

The CV-22 has been operational with the USAF for about a year, and just completed their first deployment (although not to Iraq or Afghanistan):

http://www2.afsoc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123126330

No face-saving or "keeping a lid" on anything.

The Osprey has performed very well over the last year in Iraq without a major incident.

They had one fly in for a local airshow last year. I chatted with the crew a good bit while my 10 yr old climbed all through the bird. The crew seemed to really like the bird. They said it was so much nicer to fly than some of the older helo's. And FAST!

As usual, when a new weapon system goes online and actually does well, the media just shuts up and won't run anything on it, especially after trashing it so thoroughly (deserved or not) before that.

See:
B-1B
F-15E
B-52
B-36
F-14
F-16
F-18
Abrams
Bradley
etc....

They fly them through Midland frequently (I assume on test flights from the assembly plant in Amarillo), and they're sure neat to see. It would be nice if they had a "demo team," like the fighters and such (A-10, F-15, F-18, etc.) for airshows.

Gary

My sister's step-son is a Marine Osprey pilot and loves it!!
He's slated to go to Iraq this year.

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Don't touch my junk!!

And C-130J...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

The Marines may eventually get a "demo team" up, but AFSOC won't since there will only be 50 airframes total (they want more), so they won't have the crews nor the airframes available to dedicate to a "demo team". It's unfortunate too because they won't be able to "push" the plane any and really show what it can do since the "demo pattern" will be conservative (kinda like the C-130's is WAY conservative of what the plane can really do).

Impressive to see fly, transition from vertical to horizontal flight is very darn impressive. Had one at the local airport on a secret mission a while back..........

I finally got to see it at OSH this past year. I don't know how many airshows, I've been at where it didn't fly or the fleet got grounded so no flying......

We did a photoshoot at their base in FL, it would have been a good time for the USAF to get one out and let it fly. They were in the hangars having maint done on them. Went to Bell's HQ in TX to see the 609 (Civilian and SMALLER) version fly, it didn't fly either.

I asked someone in the know about the 609 on costs. The official Bell line is that the price is to be determined before delivery, then you may pass on it if you want. To say the least, the pricing I got made it a bit more expensive than most would consider........

The 609 falls in a performance category that was (I forget) 200 to 400 miles its better than a jet or helicopter..... Well it also costs enough that you can buy 2 Bell 407s and a Cessna CJ something and have enough left over to operate them for about 6 years without spending another nickle. If you are in Pittsbuurgh and want to do a flight to Indy tomorrow. Deploy a 407 to Indy today. In the morning, get up, hop in the other 407 and fly it to the airport, then get in the CJ and fly that to Indy, then get in 407 #2 and fly to your final destination.... Still cheaper than the 609 and it will actually not be broken most of the time....

So, if you need a helicopter, get a helicopter, if you need corporate aircraft get one of them. I'm sure someday it will work...... But its always going to be so darn expensive it isn't even funny......

However it is cool, and in military application where cost doesn't matter (since they ain't paying the bills and neither am I since I retired and pay a SMALL amount of taxes) it great.......

Mark H

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Fly safe or you get to meet me .......

The Bell guys I know are very happy with the current service fleet. They seem a bit quite because they know that ONE incident will bring the press back. There is no good news worth publishing on military programs.....

They are at capacity at the Amarillo plant, building them as fast as they can. The Marines are flying them so much that a release any for airshows or other events is rare. There will not be one here in Ft. Worth for the BELL HELICOPTER Armed Forces Bowl game...

The 609 is flying...Agusta has one flying in Italy with another close to ready and the Bell machine is flying regularly...at least once a week. It is supposed to be at Heli-expo in Houston in February.

I just barely caught it last Friday....at Arlington (KGKY)

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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From everything I hear and read the Osprey is performing great! When Obama toured Iraq this year he was flown around in a V-22 belonging to my Dad's old squadron, VMM-162 (HMR-162).

I recently flew with a First Officer very familiar with the program who also knew the pilot of the unfortunate accident in Arizona. His comment was that sadly, it was pilot error.

And closer to home, this proud Papa has a daughter graduating in ten days from TCU with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and in January she begins employment at Bell working in the - you guessed it - V-22 program!

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Cheers,

Craig

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I'm just a little worried that it isnt really packing much heat for a front line aircraft and if it takes a hit in the driveshaft/tranny its a bad glider. Three if the major crashes involved problems with the gearbox just from bad design or mx let alone battle damage.
Its speed (only reason for its exsistance) is no good if it needs to be escorted by traditional slow rotorcraft. With the single rear facing .308 even if it goes into battle backwards its still underarmed. The Stuka was a great weapon till someone shot at it.

A friend of mine works in Amarillo on the V-22. They are suppose to roll out Navy (USMC) ship 101 this month. I think he said the Air Force is up to ship 15 now.

Regards,
Mike