Posted on 09/30/2004 10:01:33 AM PDT by Dubya
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER - Flight crews are testing the V-22 Osprey – a tilt-rotor aircraft scheduled to replace Vietnam-era helicopters – in desert conditions that simulate duty in Iraq, officials said Wednesday.
Four aircraft in a test squadron based in North Carolina traveled to Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas to test operations in austere conditions, according to a news release.
"Over the next two weeks, our pilots will train and become competent in flying the Osprey in an austere environment, which is nothing but goodness," said Lt. Col. Christopher C. Seymour, the officer in charge of Tiltrotor Test and Evaluation Squadron-22.
The squadron is expected to return to North Carolina in mid-October and will receive more aircraft when it moves into final testings expected to start in January.
Air Force personnel also are involved in the tests because the Air Force will use a form of the aircraft called the CV-22, which has radars and electronic warfare equipment.
The Osprey has a hybrid design with fixed wings and propellers that can tilt upward so the craft can take off and land like a helicopter, then rotate forward so it can fly like an airplane.
The Marines want the Osprey to replace the aging fleet of CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters, but the $40 billion program has been plagued by design flaws and other problems.
Nineteen Marines were killed in an April 2000 crash in Arizona. That December, an Osprey crashed in a forest near Jacksonville, killing the four Marines aboard.
The Arizona crash was triggered by an aerodynamic problem caused when a rotorcraft descends too quickly while moving slowly forward. The craft loses lift because of its own rotor turbulence.
The tests so far have focused on low speed maneuvering, parachute operations, pilot training and handling the craft when there’s turbulence caused by its rotors, military officials said.
The next phase should last from January to June.
I sure it works. Its sad to have a piece of equipment that is so bad that it kills the Marines using it.
Its good for the economy I guess.
Aw, you spilled the beans. Get ready to be flamed by the Osprey lobbyists.
Amazing that $40 _billion_ has been spent on this turkey.
All Airworthiness Certificates are written in blood
And of course the evil rich Republicans and USMC Generals don't care about the death of Marines, so haven't had the problems of four years ago fixed.
LOL. Here they come. Stupid is as stupid does.
They sure are.
Yes it is.
Is it just me, or does that statement sound like BS?
"flying the Osprey in an austere environment, which is nothing but goodness,"
This guy's quite a poet.
Correction. The Arizona crash was caused by the error of the pilot, Major John Brow, intentionally violating NATOPS thus inducing VRS.
Hum, let's see here now. Are you saying a hot-shot test pilot in a critical engineering development program somehow screwed up "intentionally" and then crashed as a result? And that the crash had nothing to do with the actual vehicle he was flying at the time?
Do you work for Kerry in your spare time too?
Are you saying a hot-shot test pilot in a critical engineering development program somehow screwed up "intentionally" and then crashed as a result?
No, Einstein. Brow wasn't a hot-shot test pilot. He was a KC-130 pilot by trade with less than 100 hours in type when he screwed the pooch and killed himself and 18 other Marines. Brow, rather than declare a missed approach, intentionally violated NATOPS and standard rotary wing procedures when he intentionally entered VRS. That's a fact. Brows' assignment was to fly a standard approach, not conduct critical HROD testing. Had Brow followed the 800/40 rule, as he and all other Marine Corps helicopter pilots are trained, he, as well as those 18 other Marines, would have survived.
And that the crash had nothing to do with the actual vehicle he was flying at the time?
If Brow had flown any other rotary winged platform in the same manner as he did the MV-22, he would have crashed. That also is a fact.
Quit reading idiots like Harry Dunn and you actually might learn something. By the way genius, why didn't the three other MV-22s that were on the same mission as Brows', crash that night in Marana? Because the other pilots didn't screw up.
Did mommy and daddy actually pay extra for your education? If so they should demand a full refund.
You named it correctly.
"Are you saying a hot-shot test pilot in a critical engineering development program somehow screwed up "intentionally" and then crashed as a result? And that the crash had nothing to do with the actual vehicle he was flying at the time?
Do you work for Kerry in your spare time too?"
Happens more often than you'll ever hear. I could go into some of the reasons, but I don't really think you want to know........
You should try getting one.
Been there, done that, burned the t-shirt. Sh!t happens in all fields.
Still I wonder why a tanker pilot was selected to fly a new helicopter in the first place.
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