| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| The Indefatigable Osprey |
| 2006-06-17 |
| Marines successfully completed two non-stop, coast-to-coast flights this week with a pair of MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, as a precursor to a transatlantic flight to England with the same Ospreys in July. The unconventional Osprey started life with some very bad publicity but now that the unconventional machine is working properly, it is beginning to offer an entirely new way of doing things, adding an important new tool to the Marine armoury. "Unlike conventional rotary wing aircraft, which must be transported into overseas theaters of operation aboard amphibious shipping or heavy lift transport planes, the V-22 can self-deploy thousands of miles over water to get itself to the fight," said Col. Bill Taylor, V-22 Osprey joint program manager. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #12 The Blackhawk helicopter had killed four or five crews before they sorted out the slew issue on the stabalator. The Cobra had a nasty habit of snapping the pitch change links and killing the crews. The Ch-47 Sync gearbox was a constant killer and the OH-58 has still the issues of LTE. The list goes on forever. Point here is the aircraft, CV22 is leading edge technology, it will have issues and those will cause crashes and loss of life. This is no real surprise to aviators, they know the risks and trust DOD to be working them out. The reason this aircraft will win out in the end is its ability to go deep, fast, and carry a good number of troops to an objective site without needing a runway. This is a capability we do not have and we need for this war and the next. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-06-17 23:13 |
| #11 The SPARROW AAM had dubious beginnings as well during air combat over Vietnam, but the US had faith in its promise and future - bugs were not only worked out, but SPARROW has become the basis formanhy contemo designx. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-06-17 22:53 |
| #10 started life with some very bad publicity Third and probably the hardest to overcome is is the aerodynamic issue with self induce settling with power. As the aircraft transitions to a hover in the decent it must do so in a straight line, no turning. If they turn the aircraft and one of the rotor systems drops into a vorticy ring state it will lose lift on that side and roll over, the pilot will not be able to recover :< We all want this to work, but it's killed more Marines any MIG. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-17 21:00 |
| #9 It is still suffering from a couple of major issues that are of no effect in sustained flight but will be troublesome in combat modes. First if theyt are going to load it full of gas or in air refuel it and deploy it, like we can aleady do with the MH-47, then when it get to theater it will need extensive maintenance. This wil require removal of tanks and all the maintenance surrounding the blade hours flown. This is minor but it is the reason we do not self deploy the 47's. Second, they have not figured out the fast rope issues of cooking the troops as they exit the aircraft, lots of hot exaust. They can and in time will fix this but as I understand it right now it is still an issue. So the aircraft must land to unload the troops. This will make this aircraft a transport and supply bird, not the assault bird as advertised. Third and probably the hardest to overcome is is the aerodynamic issue with self induce settling with power. As the aircraft transitions to a hover in the decent it must do so in a straight line, no turning. If they turn the aircraft and one of the rotor systems drops into a vorticy ring state it will lose lift on that side and roll over, the pilot will not be able to recover. This reduced the aircraft's combat capability to move when entering an objective site. This is another engineering milestone that must get fixed. The hydrolic issues were standard aviation bugs and maintenance procedures associted with the development of a new airframe, not really a big issue and I understand they were fixed. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-06-17 17:15 |
| #8 my $0.02 worth-- First generation technology usualy has a steep and painful learning curve. Consider the early (1950's) Jet aircraft and Helicopters. They killed a lot of people while finding out the real world limits of what the tech could do. MV-22 is no exception. The main thing is that it is taking place with peacetime procurement rules and methods, and with our modern sensitivity to fatalities, so it is even more painful to watch. |
| Posted by: N guard 2006-06-17 17:05 |
| #7 I hope the bugs're worked out (even more than you). The flight plan from Marines' Miramar base to Yuma is directly over my place... they actually had to increase their path height due to noise from the current choppers - Sea Knights? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-06-17 17:03 |
| #6 grb - there were some problems with the linkages during rotation from vertical to horizontal flight, there were fuel leaks from the main tanks to the engines, and there were some problems with structural integrity caused by vibrations during rotation. The engines initially had problems of cutting out during rotation at about 70 degrees, but that was overcome by increasing pressure in the fuel lines. That led to discovery of the fuel leaks. There were a couple of spectacular crashes, including one where a bunch of Marines were killed (I don't remember how many). A lot of the problems were the same ones the Navy dealt with with the vertical takeoff fighter program from the late 1950's. Guess lessons learned were later forgotten. At least the stability problems of the vtol fighters didn't play a part with the Osprey. I hope all the bugs have been worked out. It's a great concept, and if it helps keep Marines alive, I'm all for it. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-06-17 16:50 |
| #5 Does anyone remember the bugs it had? I remember something about a hydraulic line breaking and some people getting killed. Regrettable, but not a reason to scrap the idea, which is pretty good if they could get it to work. |
| Posted by: grb 2006-06-17 15:16 |
| #4 Be great if all it's problems were squared away, but, truthfully, I would not be too crazy about flying trans Atlantic in it just yet. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-06-17 15:04 |
| #3 I agree, Mike. I've always wanted this beast to succeed, but it seemed to be too buggy and complex. I wondered how it stayed on the table, to be honest. Somebody had something big on someone. If they've got it worked out, now, if it can stand operational tempos and be reasonably maintained, then hallelujah. |
| Posted by: Flith Thravilet1241 2006-06-17 14:32 |
| #2 Doesn't the Joint Force Striker render ole ostrich obsolete? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-17 14:16 |
| #1 ...Man, this beast is harder to kill than Dracula. OTOH, if - and that's a BIG if - they've gotten the bugs settled down, a transatlantic flight would be a helluva demonstration of what we can do with it. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-06-17 12:12 |