I’m an old Army guy who knows nothing about the Marines but I thought that there were major problems with that particular aircraft...crashes,etc.
That’s why the President was in the helicopter and the support staff was in the Osprey.
They are problematic, and have the highest per-hour cost of operation I’ve ever seen.
But the POTUS wouldn’t go in this one. Only support staff.
I think the best thing about the Osprey in flight is that crashes are survivable. I’m really surprised they don’t use Chinooks as support vehicles, or even as Marine 1. Those things are simply the most awesome VTOL aircraft ever made.
Widowmaker.
I think those have all been overcome, especially since the Marines are using it to transport the President. Remember that the initial M-1 Abrams prototypes and test production had a great number of problems as it was being developed, but it has proved fairly reliable for the last 30 years.
Requires much preventative maintenance and TLC.
I love the concept though
Marines don’t have problems, they have challenges.
Piloting one of those is probably a little tougher than flying a helicopter or a jet... So I think a lot of the crashes have been pilot error. That being said the whole thing looks a little unstable to begin with, so count me out. I’d prefer a C130 gunship with 4 engines and a couple of tons of firepower any day of the week.
may wanna check the born-on date on that one.
Long time ago.
Nothing compared to the CH-47.
Yup. You wouldn’t get me in one of those things.
Mostly straightened out with further development. Ospreys were more heavily used than the retiring Marine CH-46s in the Sandbox in recent years and they’ve not had a combat loss of one yet. There have been some training accidents and some incidents in theater almost all due to pilot error.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_V-22_Osprey
Meanwhile, the CH-46s killed a few dozen more Marines...
https://www.helis.com/database/accidents/?model=316
One reason the Marines continued with V-22 development is that it has *still* killed fewer Marines for the years it’s been developed and in use than the CH-46.
25 years ago it was a real problem - progress has been made...
Since becoming operational in 2007, the V-22 has had five crashes resulting in nine fatalities.
Much better than traditional helicopters. (over 230 dead in Chinooks, about 60 in Sea Knights.)
The Osprey has logged more than 100,000 flight hours in some of the most inhospitable conditions imaginable with a safety record that’s actually considered the safest among Marine Corps rotorcraft. There has been only one fatal crash: In 2010 an Air Force CV-22 touched down short of its landing zone in Afghanistan, hit a ditch, and flipped, killing four. Until this week, that was the aircraft’s only fatal accident in the past decade. By comparison, since 2001 six CH-46 Sea Knight helos (the maritime version of the Chinook, which the Osprey is replacing) have crashed, killing 20.