Incorrect. Bell was originally located in Buffalo. Bell Helicopter has been headquartered in Texas since 1951 not New York. Textron, located in Providence, Rhode Island, purchased Bell Helicopter in 1960. You claimed "the NY Congressional delegation wants it. Bell is located in NY." That is false.
It has been alleged that the USMC maintenance crews were ordered to overlook problems with the Osprey. I don't know if this is true or not.
Incorrect. What was done was that aircraft that were down, not flyable, were reported as being flyable. Nothing more than pencil whipping to show a higher readiness rate. Something which takes place in fleet squadrons everyday of the week in all branches of the service. Mechanics did not ignore maintenance issues.
The USMC Osprey pilot who had the most flight time in Ospreys was killed in an Osprey crash.
Keith Sweaney violated NATOPS procedures by attempting to continue flying an aircraft that he was trained to immediately land when the FCS could not be reset. Other aircrews who experienced similar hydraulic failures successfully landed their aircraft by following procedure. I'm sure you've heard the cliche about there being old pilots and bold pilots but no old, bold pilots.
This article discussed how R&D money was diverted from other USMC programs to the Osprey.
I'd appreciate it if you could find a link to that article and post it. The budget for the Osprey has been repeatedly cut and Cheney, while SECDEF, repeatedly diverted funds appropriated for the Osprey to other projects and only stopped when he was threatened with being sued by Congress for his illegal activity.
I have met two people who have worked as engineers on the Osprey and they were happy to get of the program as soon as they could. The Osprey is an unqualified piece of crap. When the designers want to leave the program because it is destined to become an umitigated disaster, it is doubtful things will get better.
Regards,
Boiler Plate