Hmm, wonder if once, just once, those things might have crossed the minds of the engineers of a company that has been building helicopters since the late 40's.
Now, for all the naysayers who would prefer America should never take a risk and strive for greatness, here's a little Osprey porn for you: 1991 test fight.
> Now, for all the naysayers who would prefer
> America should never take a risk ...
I’ve no problem with risk, as long as it’s plainly stated.
Tilt-rotors are much riskier than fixed wing, and probably
riskier than traditional rotary wing.
And my statement about cert wasn’t an endorsement of the
present FAA posture. It’s just a political reality that
novel flying machines have to face, and they can’t assume
they’ll get a special type rating. I’m encouraged that
the FAA isn’t very much standing in the way of commercial
suborbital vehicles, which are clearly extremely risky.