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| Marines plan to send Ospreys into combat within a year |
| 2006-02-27 |
| RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The Marine Corps plans to send the troubled Osprey aircraft into combat zones within a year and is activating a squadron of the tilt-rotor planes this week. ``Obviously, due to operational concerns we don't want to tell exactly when they will deploy,'' said spokesman Master Sgt. Phil Mehringer at Marine Corps Air Station New River, where the squadron will be based. ``But it's certainly going to happen in the near future. Definitely, within a year.'' The Osprey, which takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like an airplane, had a troubled start. Four Marines died in a 2000 crash in North Carolina that was caused by a ruptured titanium hydraulic line. Nineteen others were killed in a crash that year in Arizona that investigators blamed on pilot error. The Pentagon approved full production of the Osprey in a $19 billion program last year, and the Marines have been showing them off. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew aboard one last week. Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, which will carry the Vietnam-era ``Thunder Chickens'' nickname of the helicopter unit it is replacing, is to be formally activated Friday. There are about 250 people in the squadron and at least a dozen aircraft. The Ospreys will replace the aging, Vietnam-era fleet of CH-46E twin-rotor helicopters. The newer aircraft can carry more cargo and fly five times farther at speeds around 300 mph. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #16 Oh, Kurora. Today is definitely "Laughter is the best medicine" day here at Rantburg. I did not expect that! :-D |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-02-27 22:31 |
| #15 Osprey aircraft. This thread would be pun city if Arafish were still alive. |
| Posted by: Korora 2006-02-27 21:47 |
| #14 According to various Net blogs, the USDOD and US Army have already contracted for the next generation of [post-OSPREY] advanced combat transports, e.g. so-called "quad-rotors", allegedly capable of lifting 1 or 1-2 Abrams-type MBTS, or the equivalent in delivered AFV-Infantry weight. LOOKS LIKE THE USDOD WANTS MORE REAL-TIME TILT-ROTOR COMBAT EXPERIENCE BEFORE THE NEW GENERATIONS, SUCCESSORS TO THE WW2 GLIDER INFANTRY, BRIT AIRLANDING RGTS, VIETNAM AIRMOBILE/AIR CAVALRY, COLD WAR AIR ASSAULT, and now POST-COLD WAR "AIR-MECH", COME ON LINE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-02-27 21:21 |
| #13 The article is a bit misleading. While it does hold more cargo than the 46, it does so by a limited margin. It can not hold a HMMV internally, like the Army's CH-47, you still can not fast rope from it or perform recovery operation over water without melting the ropes and burning the troops. All of that aside the engineers have yet to fix the aerodynamic issue of pilot unduced settling with power of one set of rotors in a turn. Until the issues get sorted out I don't expect the reports to be good on this one. I do expect the lawyers to be having a feeding frenzy soon. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2006-02-27 19:20 |
| #12 :> 7,00 bolts in close-formation. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-27 16:42 |
| #11 Years ago, I spoke to a Marine Captain chopper pilot at Futenma. He described it thusly: An airplane flies by using the laws of aerodynamics; a helicopter flies by beating the air into submission. |
| Posted by: BH 2006-02-27 16:28 |
| #10 Helicopters don't fly, the Earth rejects them. -bathroom wall, Ft Rucker, AL, waaay back when |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-27 15:43 |
| #9 Years ago read an article about helos. The author said the most striking thing about his research is that the more any interview subject understood about how they actually worked the less likely they were willing to get in one. |
| Posted by: Ebbineting Unoter9879 2006-02-27 15:40 |
| #8 All new X planes have glitches and bugs to work out. And yes of course there is insane number of moving parts in such equipment that must all move and act right. The bottom line thou is how you use such equipment. The Osprey will not be making vertical landing in hot zones were you may risk sending a helicopter. However from base to base or secured landing zones they would be ideal. We lose a lot of helicopters because they have to fly long low altitude from here to their. The Osprey can take off short takeoff or even vertical go level then fly high altitude safe from ground fire to location (huge improvement in itself then add the multiplied range increase). |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-02-27 15:23 |
| #7 its the size of the big helos especially an osprey that bothers me - even the worst Jihadi with an ak couldnt miss one of these behemoths trying to fast rope in a team of spec forces or whatever - unless the whole fckin thin g is tottaly 50'cal proof it gonna be a disaster taking them into frontline combat ,i'd rather go in on a fckin parachute then something like a chinook or CH-53 or osprey, simply to big to slow to low, big bullet magnet arghhh |
| Posted by: ShepUK 2006-02-27 15:18 |
| #6 I understood that Ospreys were so complicated that only the computer could fly it. That being said, what pilot error ? |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-02-27 15:12 |
| #5 I wonder if the "fanwing" aircraft will ever get developed as a heavy lift alternative. I can't say I'm very fond of their basic design, which I think would could improve a hundred fold. But there still might be something there. www.fanwing.com |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-02-27 14:50 |
| #4 Ditto AP's comments: several years working on choppers and yeah the 46 needs the blades synched up to work right. i still can't understand the added complexity of a) folding props, and b) folding wings even tho' space is precious on board the ships. if the birds stay 'up' then the space isn't needed for maintenance, but i think there is going to be an awful lot of 'stiff-winged' ospreys out there. just the humbel opinion of a 26 year Navy Fixed and Rotary winged wrench twister. |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-02-27 14:44 |
| #3 The one thing about helicopters is that a lot of things have to go right to keep them airborne and under control. They are a flock of parts flying in perfect formation. Now add more linkages and rotate the whole rotor disc and you will need a whole bunch of things to go right. But what do I know? Ima fixed wing pilot with a limited amount of piloting helicopters, so I am a bid prejudiced, but in awe of rotary wings. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-02-27 14:26 |
| #2 The Osprey is the wartime equivalent of a golf handicap. Guess they figured the body count was getting a little one-sided. |
| Posted by: BH 2006-02-27 14:08 |
| #1 A Marine Sargeant in our family once told me for this piece of equipment, synchronization of the rotors (especially when in 'vertical flight') is everything. The Chinook "just bucks around a bit" when things are out of whack. The Osprey flips over. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2006-02-27 13:58 |