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V-22 OSPREY Testimonial
By Richard S. Lowry
I started to respond to Charlie's recent post about the V-22 Osprey and my comment got so long that I decided to reply in a separate post.
I have a friend who is a pilot in the V-22 squadron that is deployed. He has told me that the aircraft is holding up well. The aircraft's logistics pipeline is not yet mature. This probably attributes to the low operational rate quoted in Charlie's post.
I asked General Petraeus what he thought of the aircraft after his Christmastime ride:
The Osprey is terrific, Richard. Truly 21st Century technology. Could never have covered the ground we did on Christmas day -- visiting far-flung patrol bases in western Anbar and northeastern Diyala, as well as in Baghdad -- in a helicopter. V-22 takes off like a helo, of course, and then rolls over its enormous propellers and flat takes off, flying at 250 knots at 10k feet (well above direct fire). Tremendous power and great range. Lands, even in dustouts, using an auto-hover capability I've never seen before. And latest glass cockpit and advanced displays/instruments. Most impressive. Best --
Osprey Flight Similator
I had the opportunity to fly in the Osprey Flight simulator in 2006. If the aircraft is half as cool as the simulator, it is amazing. The simulator is programmed to react just as the aircraft does. I asked my friend if he thought the plane could do a Split-S. "I don't know" he replied. "Let's try."
He talked me through the maneuver, I climbed real high, flipped over and pulled back on the stick. He reset the system before we hit the virtual ground.
"We had too much speed. Let me try."
He took the controls, climbed to nearly stall altitude and then repeated the maneuver.
It worked!
The inside is almost identical in size to the CH-46
Months later the squadron was out at sea doing flight ops. I asked him if he had tried the Split-S in the aircraft itself.
"We'll have to leave that for the simulator."
The Osprey flys farther and faster than the Vietnam era "Phrog" that it will replace. It can fly high and land on steep grades. It is the Marine lift platform of the future.
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Comments
That's a great photo Richard. Does the army plan on deploying these things?
It is crap that the logistics pipeline is not mature. The Marines have had 5 years or more to get that right and besides-the supply flow for helos (which is what the V-22 is) is very mature. My gut feel is that the folks at AIRLANT who probably drive this bus, have screwed it away-the same way they tried to when we were dealing with them about HSL supply issues. The GS who runs that desk in CNAL is totally useless.
Parts are parts.
That top photo looks odd - the V-22 looks too smooth, and the shadow is kinda weird. Where'd it come from - it looks sorta video game-ish.
It's real. I downloaded it from a Marine Corps article about the V-22 conducting training at sea. The article had a series of photographs. Here is a link to the article and another photo from the series.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2005622101125
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From the sidelines as a retired Army helicopter pilot now flying helicopter EMS, I have watched the difficult gestation of the V-22 with great interest. The technology offshoots for civilian EMS, (the B609), will save many lives in the future, doing in 20 minutes what it now takes me an hour to accomplish.
From the start I've heard rumors about how fixed-wingers tried to turn the V-22 into an airplane by giving it a "power lever" rather than a collective. Reading as much as possible about the Marana tragedy, it seems that was a mistake someone unfamiliar with helo characteristics would make.
In it's most critical flight mode, this thing is a HELICOPTER, and anyone pretending it is anything else will pay dearly.
I'm heartened by the fact that it seems to be doing well. Let's improve, improve, improve this machine and hopefully give it autorotative capabilities...
In military and civilian form, this technology is a lifesaver.