(Aug 29) Osprey to show its wings Friday; Marines unveil controversial transport aircraft

[CGowen]

MIRAMAR -- As the Marines prepare to send the first wave of V-22 Ospreys -- airplane-helicopter combinations -- to Iraq, the Corps is putting the oft-troubled aircraft on display for reporters Friday.

One prominent and longtime critic said Wednesday that the Osprey is still "unreliable."
Ten Ospreys have been shipped to Iraq, where they are scheduled to begin service next month in the volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad.

The aircraft features the speed and range of a turboprop airplane with the ability to take off and land in smaller spaces than traditional planes. Military officials say it can quickly carry and drop off up to 24 troops.

It's tilting rotors allow it to take off and land like a helicopter and fly like an airplane once airborne.
The Ospreys about to begin service in Iraq were sent by ship, a decision that was intended to "save wear and tear," a spokesman said earlier this month.

In development for more than two decades, the Osprey has slowly been brought into the military's fleet after three test flight crashes in recent years that claimed 30 lives, including 14 Marines from Camp Pendleton and one from Miramar.
The Marine Corps maintains that the problems that plagued the Osprey's development have been overcome.

But Phil Coyle, a longtime Osprey observer and critic, said he believes it is still unsafe.
"For the Marines, the Osprey is like a bad poker hand, and the Marines have been investing in it for 20 years," Coyle said this week. "They'd have been better off if they'd invested in brand-new helicopters."

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http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/30/news/top_stories/1_01_518_29_07.txt

[kenny blankenship]

1. It seems like all my adult life they've been trying to prove that the Osprey isn't a death trap.

I wouldn't fly in an Osprey, not even on a large bet.

Ok, for a million dollars I'd fly in one. But not twice.

[MADem]

2. Piece of shit deathtrap. If I were a politician I wouldn't take a test ride.

I feel sorry for the guinea pigs er, Marines who are forced to ride in the things.

[frylock]

3. i've been seeing a lot of them around MCAS miramar over the last several weeks