Controversial 'Osprey' Chopper Makes Debut in Afghanistan

[tekisui]

Source: McClatchy

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN — When a couple of VM-22 Osprey tilt rotors joined a fleet of CH-53 helicopters, dropping out of the predawn darkness Friday in the northern end of the Now Zad valley in Helmand Province to deliver the first of more than 1,000 NATO and Afghan troops, it marked not only the first large assault since President Obama's announcement that the U.S. would be sending more troops here, it also was the first major combat operation for the Osprey.

The Marines are hoping that the operation — a sweep to begin to secure the area around the city of Now Zad dubbed Cobra's Anger — will become a key step toward resuscitating the image of the Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter, but in the air can tilt its motors forward to fly like a fixed-wing plane.

"It certainly passed its first big test here with flying colors," said Maj. William Pelletier, a spokesman at the Marine Corp's main base in Afghanistan and Helmand Province, Camp Leatherneck.

The Osprey suffered through a star-crossed development period that took more than 20 years and included several fatal crashes and huge cost overruns. Then, after production models entered service, on its only other combat deployment so far, in Iraq's Anbar Province in 2007 through 2009, the complicated aircraft was panned by the Government Accounting Office and critics in Congress because of various maintenance problems and questions about its performance.

In a report released June 23, the GAO essentially said that it wasn't worth the cost and that its ability to fly at high altitudes and to carry the number of troops it was supposed to with their gear was questionable.

At a hearing on the day the report was released, Rep. Edolphus Towns, a New York Democrat, said: "It has problems in hot weather, it has problems in cold weather, it has problems with sand, it has problems with high altitude, and it has restricted maneuverability. The list of what the Osprey can't do is longer than the list of what it can do."

He then said that the Pentagon should quit buying them, and the GAO urged the Pentagon to look into other options. It declined.

more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/80129.html

[lapfog_1]

1. Spent a few years at NASA with the aerodynamic modelers

attempting to accurately model the turbulence caused by the prop wash, especially as the Osprey transitioned from pure helicopter mode to fixed wing aircraft.

There was just no way to smoothly get to laminar flow over the wings with that amount of prop wash coupled with the needed forward motion. Laminar flow creates lift, which keeps the plane in the air.

Bad design, should have been grounded and canceled.

[tekisui]

2. I wonder why they are sending into Afghanistan when in it known

to have such problems. I hope no one is hurt by an overeager roll-out.

[BeHereNow]

3. So we lose a few pilots, maybe some civilians-

What's that compared to the gains made by the stock holders?

Besides, we MUST get those terrorists!

:sarcasm:
BHN

[Robb]

4. How long ago?

Honest question, I've read an awful lot of defense of the design in the past year or so.

[lapfog_1]

9. Honestly, it's been a decade almost exactly

since I was involved with the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Division and the VWT (Virtual Wind Tunnel).

But the problem (according to the models and the CFD scientists I worked with) was with the basic design.

A better model (that we tested in the virtual wind tunnel) was one that had the tilt rotor engine nacelles mounted over the wings of the aircraft instead of a more traditional mount. And even that one had issues.

The Harrier jump jet with it's "steerable" jet exhaust directed out of the bottom of the craft (and toward the rear) showed much better stability during transition from vertical take of to forward lift aircraft. We actually had a Harrier at Ames and there were many experiments run on it's aerodynamic capabilities. There was also a scale model prototype of the JAST fighter (Joint Strike Fighter) which used a small jet engine also used in the unmanned drone program, it was tethered from a jet engine test stand at Ames (a rather large yellow crane like structure) and tests were done on it's STOVL capabilities as well.

Could the Osprey have been "fixed" in the last 10 years, sure... I'm certain that some improvements have been made, including the training of the pilots. But it also seems that it has a much more restrictive service envelope than originally anticipated as well, at least from reports that I've read.

Much like the Space Shuttle, it was a good prototype and should have been redesigned after the prototype was flown, lessons were learned, the the prototype retired.

[Robb]

12. Thanks. Interesting stuff.

I agree on the more restrictive service envelope notion, too. The miracle of lowered expectations. :D

I re-read the article, sounds like they got their .50-cal on it after all, too. The Marines will be happy about that part, at least.

[kenny blankenship]

5. Unsafe at any altitude

[lapfog_1]

10. Actually, unsafe at low altitudes.

I think that there aren't any problems with it if you fly it like a conventional aircraft (runways for takeoff and landing).

Possibly, though I don't know for sure, if ONLY operated in the helicopter mode, it might "safe" as well.

It only seemed to have problems transitioning from helicopter to airplane and back.

[Marr]

13. Well, that's true. At least half of all plane crashes happen at low altitudes.

Often at ground level. :P

[lapfog_1]

14. As Ron White tells it.

The captain tells everyone that they are having engine trouble. The passengers look out at the left side engine and see that it's not working anymore... and the passenger sitting next to Ron turns to him and asks "How far do you think we'll get on the other engine?" and Ron answers "All the way to the scene of the crash, and the good news is that we'll be there probably a good half hour before the EMTs arrive."

[Robb]

6. I could've sworn we had these in Iraq.

I'm going to go check, but I swear I remember these flying in Iraq.

[tekisui]

7. Now that you mention it, that seems right.

I'll see if I can find anything.

[tekisui]

8. All Ospreys grounded after Iraq incident

All 84 of the U.S. military’s V-22 Ospreys were temporarily grounded Saturday after the discovery of loose bolts on the aircraft by Marines in Iraq, officials said.

The grounding affected all V-22s, including the Corps’ aircraft and the 11 CV-22s the Air Force operates, said Mike Welding, spokesman for the V-22 program at Navy Air Systems Command. As of Tuesday morning, 76 of the 84 aircraft had been cleared to fly, with problems discovered on four Ospreys operated out of Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, by Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266 out of Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.

The loose bolts were discovered by VMM-266 mechanics after a pilot noticed a vibration and heard a “loud noise” after a routine flight, Welding said.

An inspection revealed that four loose bolts had separated from a stationary swashplate trunnion and a gimbal ring on the drive tube, causing “minor damage” to the engine’s pitch links and spinner support, he said. The swashplate has a rotating and stationary plate, and translates a pilot’s commands to the rotors in motion.

“If this thing comes apart, then you lose control of the prop rotor,” said Welding, who declined to categorize the incident as a “near-miss.”

“We want to stress that this has not happened in flight,” he said. “This (grounding) was a precautionary measure.”

All 11 CV-22s stationed at Hurlburt Field, Fla., were inspected and cleared to fly on Tuesday and had almost no effect on training operations, said Don Arias, an Air Force Special Operations Command spokesman.

The Air Force has yet to deploy its CV-22s to Iraq.

No V-22s have been deployed to Afghanistan, though Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway said the aircraft is “made for Afghanistan” and could be sent there later this year.

No problems had been discovered on MV-22s in the U.S., which are based out of New River. Two of the four Ospreys with issues in Iraq had been repaired and cleared to fly, he said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/03/marine_ospreys_grounded_032509w/

The one going to Afghanistan is a VM-22. I have no idea what the differences are.

[Nikki Stone1]

11. So the faulty war is being used to market a faulty product.

Makes sense, in a faulty MIC sort of way.

[TexasObserver]

15. Selling war materiel is a primary motive for this war.