A Marine squadron of 10 V-22 Osprey tilt-roter aircraft left for Iraq yesterday. They are traveling on the U.S.S. Wasp, a small Navy aircraft carrier known as an amphibious assault ship.
The Osprey is the controversial experimental aircraft that lands and takes off with the twin engines facing upward like a helicopter, but once in the air the engines tilt forward and act as normal turboprop engines on a fixed-wing aircraft. For all the fact that the aircraft has been over-budget and has suffered a series of accidents, it is unique technology in aircraft. It is now going to be tried out with the Marine Corps in combat.
Love it or hate it, the Osprey is a fascinating aircraft. I wish the crews and the Marine Corps well with it.
(Article found in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The article includes a picture of the Osprey.)
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