thedrifter
05-23-08, 04:47 AM
Osprey marks 20th birthday
May 23, 2008 - 12:52AM
LINDELL KAY
Daily News Staff
After a rocky start and recent successful deployments in Iraq, the V-22 Osprey turns 20 years old today.
The world's first tilt-rotor aircraft - it takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter but flies like a fixed-wing aircraft - made its debut during rollout ceremonies at Bell Helicopter's Textron facility in Arlington, Texas, on May 23, 1988.
"The Osprey was not just a new type of aircraft, it was a new form of aviation with as many hurdles to jump as the first jet engines and helicopters when they were developed," said James Darcy, a Department of Defense spokesman for the V-22 program.
Steadily replacing the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, the Osprey has been modified several times since it first rolled off the assembly line.
"Significant changes have been made in the aircraft to improve safety, reliability and maintainability," Darcy said.
An Osprey prototype crashed into the Potomac River near Quantico, Va., in 1992, killing seven service members.
"The 1992 mishap was because of oil buildup in engine nacelle that dumped into the engine when the wing rotated," Darcy said, adding that engineers solved the problem by installing a drain line in the nacelle, or area that houses the engine.
Two crashes in 2000 - one in Arizona and one in Jacksonville - claimed the lives of 23 service members and caused the aircraft to be grounded for more than a year during investigations.
The cause of the crash in Arizona was determined to be human error.
The 2000 Jacksonville Osprey crash was the result of flight software that could not adjust to hydraulic routing problems in the engine compartments, Darcy said. The software has been updated and the designed system redundancy now allows the aircraft to switch to a bypass hydraulic line if need be.
"A recent bird strike incident where a vulture slammed into the tail of the aircraft and penetrated a hydraulic line demonstrated the Osprey is improved, when the pilot was able to land with no problems," Darcy said.
The real test for the Osprey came in Iraq with two recent deployments. The VMM-162 squadron is in Iraq and VMM-263 recently returned.
New River Air Station has five tilt-rotor squadrons. Three are deployable, one is for tests and evaluation and the other is a training squadron, a New River spokesman said.
VMM-162 supports combat operations in Iraq providing medium-lift assault support moving Marines, soldiers, Iraqi forces and their gear throughout western Iraq and wherever commanders need them, said Marine Maj. Eric Dent, a Pentagon spokesman for the V-22 program.
The Osprey flies faster, farther and higher than the aircraft it is designed to replace, Dent said.
"These attributes have an immediate impact on combat operations," he said. "The less time an aircraft spends moving from on the ground to flying at altitude, the less chance our enemies have to engage it."
For all of the controversy during its development, the Osprey is here to stay.
"Recently a multiyear buy was approved, and this means that the Marine Corps will be able to continue to transition a couple of CH-46E squadrons each year for the next few years," Dent said. "In the end, the Marines will purchase 360 Ospreys."
The Air Force is also flying V-22s, and the Navy has 48 on order with a price tag of $40.1 million each and a delivery date of 2019, DoD officials said.
Engineers are working to add a belly-mounted 7.62 mm machine gun to compliment the same gun already mounted on the rear ramp. The retractable belly gun would provide 360-degree coverage, Darcy said.
Dent said the Osprey is just a glimpse of what the future holds.
"When we consider what this aircraft is capable of, we are only scratching the surface," he said.
In the next 20 years, tilt-rotor aircraft - military and civilian - will be more common, and the lessons learned on the V-22 project will have made it possible, Darcy said.
Bell Boeing has already manufactured a civilian tilt-rotor, the BA-609, with applications for executive transportation, search and rescue, and law enforcement use, said Bob Leder, a deputy communications director with Bell Boeing.
The company is also developing a tilt-rotor aircraft the size of the C-130 cargo plane that will have a 1,000-mile range, a maximum speed of 300 mph and will be able to move combat forces forward without the need for runways or airports, Leder said.
Wind tunnel testing for the new plane has been conducted at Texas A&M University.
"The results of the tests are still being investigated," Leder said. "Early information appears very positive."
Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.
Ellie
May 23, 2008 - 12:52AM
LINDELL KAY
Daily News Staff
After a rocky start and recent successful deployments in Iraq, the V-22 Osprey turns 20 years old today.
The world's first tilt-rotor aircraft - it takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter but flies like a fixed-wing aircraft - made its debut during rollout ceremonies at Bell Helicopter's Textron facility in Arlington, Texas, on May 23, 1988.
"The Osprey was not just a new type of aircraft, it was a new form of aviation with as many hurdles to jump as the first jet engines and helicopters when they were developed," said James Darcy, a Department of Defense spokesman for the V-22 program.
Steadily replacing the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, the Osprey has been modified several times since it first rolled off the assembly line.
"Significant changes have been made in the aircraft to improve safety, reliability and maintainability," Darcy said.
An Osprey prototype crashed into the Potomac River near Quantico, Va., in 1992, killing seven service members.
"The 1992 mishap was because of oil buildup in engine nacelle that dumped into the engine when the wing rotated," Darcy said, adding that engineers solved the problem by installing a drain line in the nacelle, or area that houses the engine.
Two crashes in 2000 - one in Arizona and one in Jacksonville - claimed the lives of 23 service members and caused the aircraft to be grounded for more than a year during investigations.
The cause of the crash in Arizona was determined to be human error.
The 2000 Jacksonville Osprey crash was the result of flight software that could not adjust to hydraulic routing problems in the engine compartments, Darcy said. The software has been updated and the designed system redundancy now allows the aircraft to switch to a bypass hydraulic line if need be.
"A recent bird strike incident where a vulture slammed into the tail of the aircraft and penetrated a hydraulic line demonstrated the Osprey is improved, when the pilot was able to land with no problems," Darcy said.
The real test for the Osprey came in Iraq with two recent deployments. The VMM-162 squadron is in Iraq and VMM-263 recently returned.
New River Air Station has five tilt-rotor squadrons. Three are deployable, one is for tests and evaluation and the other is a training squadron, a New River spokesman said.
VMM-162 supports combat operations in Iraq providing medium-lift assault support moving Marines, soldiers, Iraqi forces and their gear throughout western Iraq and wherever commanders need them, said Marine Maj. Eric Dent, a Pentagon spokesman for the V-22 program.
The Osprey flies faster, farther and higher than the aircraft it is designed to replace, Dent said.
"These attributes have an immediate impact on combat operations," he said. "The less time an aircraft spends moving from on the ground to flying at altitude, the less chance our enemies have to engage it."
For all of the controversy during its development, the Osprey is here to stay.
"Recently a multiyear buy was approved, and this means that the Marine Corps will be able to continue to transition a couple of CH-46E squadrons each year for the next few years," Dent said. "In the end, the Marines will purchase 360 Ospreys."
The Air Force is also flying V-22s, and the Navy has 48 on order with a price tag of $40.1 million each and a delivery date of 2019, DoD officials said.
Engineers are working to add a belly-mounted 7.62 mm machine gun to compliment the same gun already mounted on the rear ramp. The retractable belly gun would provide 360-degree coverage, Darcy said.
Dent said the Osprey is just a glimpse of what the future holds.
"When we consider what this aircraft is capable of, we are only scratching the surface," he said.
In the next 20 years, tilt-rotor aircraft - military and civilian - will be more common, and the lessons learned on the V-22 project will have made it possible, Darcy said.
Bell Boeing has already manufactured a civilian tilt-rotor, the BA-609, with applications for executive transportation, search and rescue, and law enforcement use, said Bob Leder, a deputy communications director with Bell Boeing.
The company is also developing a tilt-rotor aircraft the size of the C-130 cargo plane that will have a 1,000-mile range, a maximum speed of 300 mph and will be able to move combat forces forward without the need for runways or airports, Leder said.
Wind tunnel testing for the new plane has been conducted at Texas A&M University.
"The results of the tests are still being investigated," Leder said. "Early information appears very positive."
Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.
Ellie