thedrifter
04-23-07, 08:36 AM
Roller coaster ride
Osprey is no Sea Knight in flight
-
Posted : April 30, 2007
Stupid reporters, always asking questions. It seems only fair that I give as good as I get.
I was stoked to be one of 20 reporters allowed to fly in the V-22 Osprey the same day Commandant Gen. James Conway announced that the first operational Osprey squadron — Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 — is heading to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, in September.
No matter that I had to drive more than 300 miles to Washington, D.C., to get my first shot at riding in the Osprey. Finally, I got to experience for myself what more than 20 grunts described to me about their first flights. I asked myself some of the questions I asked them:
Was I nervous? Not until I told my mom I was taking the ride. She said, “Don’t do it, they crash.” But curiosity overcame nerves.
What impressed me? Speed. This bizarre-looking bird packs a punch. The flight was much smoother than the bumpy ride we took from the Pentagon to Quantico, Va., in a CH-46 Sea Knight, the helicopter being replaced by the Osprey. I can’t tell you when the nacelles started to tilt, changing the aircraft from helicopter to airplane. But when those 38-foot-wide rotors nudged downward, our bodies moved in a synchronized lean toward the open back hatch.
A few of us smiled like giddy teen-agers riding the latest, greatest, tallest and fastest amusement park ride. We’d been given a great analogy previewing our flight: Flying in a CH-46 Sea Knight is like riding in the back of an old pickup. Flying in an Osprey is like riding a roller coaster.
Would I do it again? Probably.
— Trista Talton
Ellie
Osprey is no Sea Knight in flight
-
Posted : April 30, 2007
Stupid reporters, always asking questions. It seems only fair that I give as good as I get.
I was stoked to be one of 20 reporters allowed to fly in the V-22 Osprey the same day Commandant Gen. James Conway announced that the first operational Osprey squadron — Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 — is heading to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, in September.
No matter that I had to drive more than 300 miles to Washington, D.C., to get my first shot at riding in the Osprey. Finally, I got to experience for myself what more than 20 grunts described to me about their first flights. I asked myself some of the questions I asked them:
Was I nervous? Not until I told my mom I was taking the ride. She said, “Don’t do it, they crash.” But curiosity overcame nerves.
What impressed me? Speed. This bizarre-looking bird packs a punch. The flight was much smoother than the bumpy ride we took from the Pentagon to Quantico, Va., in a CH-46 Sea Knight, the helicopter being replaced by the Osprey. I can’t tell you when the nacelles started to tilt, changing the aircraft from helicopter to airplane. But when those 38-foot-wide rotors nudged downward, our bodies moved in a synchronized lean toward the open back hatch.
A few of us smiled like giddy teen-agers riding the latest, greatest, tallest and fastest amusement park ride. We’d been given a great analogy previewing our flight: Flying in a CH-46 Sea Knight is like riding in the back of an old pickup. Flying in an Osprey is like riding a roller coaster.
Would I do it again? Probably.
— Trista Talton
Ellie