thedrifter
05-23-09, 08:40 AM
Osprey plane is half jet, half helicopter, & talk of fleet week
By Stephanie Gaskell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 23rd 2009, 4:00 AM
It's a bird, it's a plane...it's an Osprey!
Forget the ships and submarines. The main attraction at this year's Fleet Week is the V-22 Osprey, an assault support aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like a plane.
"It's the Marine Corps' latest and greatest aircraft," boasted Marine pilot Maj. Brian Smith, 37, of Ridley Park, Pa.
After $20 billion and 25 years of development - including several test flights that killed a total of 30 Marines - the Osprey made its debut in a combat zone in Iraq in the fall of 2007.
"The airplane performed quite well over there," said Smith, who has been flying the Osprey for about five years.
The Marines are planning to send a fleet to Afghanistan later this year.
Since the aircraft is capable of landing in tight spaces like a helicopter, yet can fly at high altitudes and for long durations like a plane, the Marines hope the Osprey will help them tackle the tough terrain there.
"We're incredibly confident [that] having the Osprey in that environment is going to pay dividends for our forces," Lt. Gen. George Trautman, Marine deputy commander for aviation, recently told *************.
The plane can fly at twice the speed of a regular military helicopter and can refuel in-flight, meaning it can stay in the air longer.
There are three Ospreys in town for Fleet Week - they flew over the Hudson River as the parade of ships sailed into New York Harbor on Wednesday. The planes are also expected to do a flyover at the Mets game at Citi Field on Monday.
"People wonder what it is," said Marine pilot Capt. Robert Wicker, 27, of Hickory Tavern, S.C., who has been flying the Osprey for more than two years. "It's becoming more known now that it's actually out there in the battlefield."
sgaskell@nydailynews.com
Video and pix
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/05/23/2009-05-23_planes_got_chops_20b_hybrid_aircraft_is_half_je t_half_helicopter__the_talk_of_fl.html
Ellie
By Stephanie Gaskell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 23rd 2009, 4:00 AM
It's a bird, it's a plane...it's an Osprey!
Forget the ships and submarines. The main attraction at this year's Fleet Week is the V-22 Osprey, an assault support aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like a plane.
"It's the Marine Corps' latest and greatest aircraft," boasted Marine pilot Maj. Brian Smith, 37, of Ridley Park, Pa.
After $20 billion and 25 years of development - including several test flights that killed a total of 30 Marines - the Osprey made its debut in a combat zone in Iraq in the fall of 2007.
"The airplane performed quite well over there," said Smith, who has been flying the Osprey for about five years.
The Marines are planning to send a fleet to Afghanistan later this year.
Since the aircraft is capable of landing in tight spaces like a helicopter, yet can fly at high altitudes and for long durations like a plane, the Marines hope the Osprey will help them tackle the tough terrain there.
"We're incredibly confident [that] having the Osprey in that environment is going to pay dividends for our forces," Lt. Gen. George Trautman, Marine deputy commander for aviation, recently told *************.
The plane can fly at twice the speed of a regular military helicopter and can refuel in-flight, meaning it can stay in the air longer.
There are three Ospreys in town for Fleet Week - they flew over the Hudson River as the parade of ships sailed into New York Harbor on Wednesday. The planes are also expected to do a flyover at the Mets game at Citi Field on Monday.
"People wonder what it is," said Marine pilot Capt. Robert Wicker, 27, of Hickory Tavern, S.C., who has been flying the Osprey for more than two years. "It's becoming more known now that it's actually out there in the battlefield."
sgaskell@nydailynews.com
Video and pix
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/05/23/2009-05-23_planes_got_chops_20b_hybrid_aircraft_is_half_je t_half_helicopter__the_talk_of_fl.html
Ellie