WTF ??? - The Presidential Osprey ???

[WillyT]

Osprey aircraft deployed for first time in support of Marine One
Posted: Aug 11, 2013 4:38 AM PDT
By CNN Newswire



<snip>

(CNN) -- Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys, aircraft that take off vertically, provided a dramatic new look for President Barack Obama's travel detail as he and the first lady began a Martha's Vineyard vacation on Saturday.

The Ospreys -- making their presidential debut -- shuttled White House staff, media and Secret Service members from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.

The sleek tilt-rotor aircraft can take off like a helicopter but fly like an airplane.

The Marines say the Ospreys are twice as fast, can travel six times farther and are capable of carrying three times the weight of the Vietnam-era CH-46E helicopters which have supported missions involving the president.

There are no plans yet to have the president fly in the MV-22s.

The Osprey has raised some safety concerns over the years. It earned the unceremonious nickname "the Widowmaker" after crashes during initial development and testing.

In late 2000, the Corps grounded the fleet after two crashes, one in Arizona killing four crew members and 15 passengers and another in North Carolina that killed the crew.

<snip>

More: http://www.12newsnow.com/story/23103911/osprey-aircraft-deployed-for-first-time-in-support-of-marine-one

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. The helos are getting old

But the widow maker is hardly a good choice.

[MADem]

2. Don't EVER put a President in one of those things--they're dangerous. nt

[winter is coming]

6. +1,000,000,000. n/t

[Abnredleg]

10. He flew in one in 2008

during his tour of Iraq - this was before the elections, however.

[MADem]

12. He went from Iraq to Jordan in the thing.

Probably everyone involved in that evolution was shitting bricks.

[bluestate10]

11. I agree. Update the helicopter used to a more modern model that has proven itself under many hours

of flight. I don't care whether I agree with the President or not, I don't want my President or that President's family ever riding in aircraft that is not proven safe.

[KoKo]

3. Sheesh...My first thought is that someone is Putting PBO/Michelle and those Kids

on an OSPREY! With THEIR kind of safety Record.........



Article says, though, that:


The Ospreys -- making their presidential debut -- shuttled White House staff, media and Secret Service members from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.

[Dawson Leery]

4. Everyone of those pieces of S**T should be taken to the scrap yard and melted down!

[Abnredleg]

8. It's turned into a very safe aircraft

The design really pushed the envelope and four were lost during testing and development due to mechanical and aerodynamic problems. The problems were fixed and it has been very successful in service, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The first Marine Corps squadron was activated in 2006 and now it's an integral part of Marine air operations, with the lowest accident rate of any of their rotorcraft.

In many ways the story of the MV-22 is similar to that of F-111, which had a disastrous introduction into service but went on to become one of the most reliable and valued aircraft in the inventory.

[MADem]

15. I remember seeing drawings of that thing back in the 70s in Bell Helicopter offices...

They'd been working on some iteration of the concept from back in the fifties and sixties, though.

The idea came from the Germans, pre-WW2.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_XV-3

The XV-3 was first flown on 11 August 1955. Although it was limited in performance, the aircraft successfully demonstrated the tiltrotor concept, accomplishing 110 transitions from helicopter to airplane mode between December 1958 and July 1962. The XV-3 program ended when the remaining aircraft was severely damaged in a wind tunnel accident on 20 May 1966.[1] The data and experience from the XV-3 program were key elements used to successfully develop the Bell XV-15, which later paved the way for the V-22 Osprey.[2]

This is the one I saw:

...NASA selected the Bell 301 for further development, and a contract for further R&D was issued on 31 July 1973. Extensive engineering and testing took the next four years to complete the development of the aircraft. The first of two Bell XV-15s, tail number N702NA, first flew on 3 May 1977. After minimal flight tests at the Bell test facility, the aircraft was moved to NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, where it was then mounted in the large Ames wind tunnel and tested extensively in various simulated flight environments.

For the U.S. Department of Defense Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental (JVX) aircraft program, Bell Helicopter and Boeing Vertol teamed to submit a bid for an enlarged version of the XV-15 in 1983. The Bell Boeing team received a preliminary design contract that year, which lead to the V-22 Osprey.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_XV-15

[babylonsister]

5. So what did they replace?

And how's your head?

[NV Whino]

7. Well, it's one way to cut staff I suppose.

[LWolf]

9. Oh.

I thought I was going to see this.



At least he did cancel plans to spend $11 billion to replace Marine One helicopters.

Hopefully using "widowmakers" to shuttle the POTUS, family, and staff around won't leave any widows.

[KoKo]

14. That's News.. I didn't know they'd scrapped the Marine One's for Ospreys...

Well....I wish them well with that choice.

[Abnredleg]

16. They haven't

The Marines still use Sea Kings and Blackhawks to transport the POTUS - the Osprey is used in a support role. One of the issues is that the Osprey is too large to land safely on the White House lawn. The Navy will probably restart the Marine One replacement program in the next couple of years.

[tammywammy]

20. The Navy has already sent out Requests for Proposals for the new Marine One.

One of the big issues with the previous replacement was the additional requirements added after the fact. Additional requirements = additional cost.

[aikoaiko]

13. They make an unworldly sound and fascinating to watch.

They've mostly worked out the kinks.

[Scuba]

17. Before the President flies in an Osprey, extensive VIP flight-testing should be done with ...

... the Speaker of the House.

[Recursion]

18. Ah yes. The bird with one gun, which only fires backwards. When the door is open.

[Historic NY]

19. Those planes have been dangerous from day one and still are...

they fall out of the sky .