Squantos sees the new ones flying around his part of the world. He says that they do stuff he never saw any aircraft do during many years in the USAF around fixed wings and helos. I’d love to see an airshow where they really put them throgh their paces. I was an early skeptic, I was dead set agin’ em. But they seem to have been debugged, and they can really fly, or so I’m told.
I’ve been a big fan of the concept ever since I saw a film of the Bell peorotype in the Seventies. Last year, a Marine general came to Chicago to give a presentation. I put him and his ADC up at my club. He asked me what he could do for me. I said, “Get me onto an Osprey.” He said he would try.
Unfortunately, when I went to Camp Lejeune for a Dining Out, his ADC said the flight was nixed by HQ Marines because most of the pilots were still learning the ropes on the MV-22. Nevertheless, I’m still interested in getting on one day. They’re doing more PR stuff with bird like taking Congressional muckey-mucks so maybe I’ll have a chance.