An Osprey in our backyard!

[Brian Christopher]

Hello Marines!

First, I would like to say, the Marines ROCK! I have many many friends and several relatives who are Marines. Truly some of the finest people I know.

THANK YOU, for what you do!

I am a civilian pilot and this past weekend we had quite a treat at our airport when two Osprey’s flew in and landed.

I guess the word was they were in transit together when one of had some sort of engine problem so they landed.

I was able to go right out on the ramp and have a look. Very impressive, even setting still. The next day I was lucky enough to be around when one of the ospreys took off!

HOLY COW, IT WAS AMAZING! (I didn’t have my camera that day, I was bummed)

This was the all the buzz of the airport, and many people were asking questions about it, but no one really had any answers. The crew was focused on the repairs and I’m sure was in no mood to do “Show and Tell” with the Osprey, so I didn’t bother them. I would like to ask couple of questions if anyone would care to indulge me.

1.) Is it capable of “Auto rotations” like a regular hilo, and what would be the emergency procedure if a motor failed ?

2.) Is there any glide ratio at all?

3.) Is it pressurized and what is the service ceiling?

4.) What is the minimum forward speed (stall I guess) that a transition to vertical flight can happen?

5.) Does it hold any record for most moving parts on an aircraft?

[sgtdave]

The best breakdown for your question #4 that I have found is at this site:

http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw001212_3_n.shtml

This aircraft will replace the CH-46 and CH-53 (medium and heavy helicopters), which are aging aircraft, as well as do everything they do, but much more. All this remains to be seen as the aircraft takes on more and more tasks.

[skippy]

Good questions. These aircraft were inroute to do a flyby of the USS San Antonio for its commissioning.

The aircraft is not capable of autorotation. It is however single engine capable. If an engine failure were to happen, the pilot would put the osprey in a configuration that would make a dual engine failure more bearable. And remember, the aircraft has an interconnecting driveshaft so that if one engine fails, both proprotor can be driven by one engine. If they had to transit over along distance, it would be configured in airplane mode at about 170 kts. Helo mode would be at 60 degree nacelle and about 80 kts.

It is capable of a glide and that ratio is about between 8 and 10 to 1.

The aircraft is not pressurized but can go up to 25,000 feet. With passengers in the back, you can only go up to 13,000 feet.

In pure airplane mode, the aircraft can stall anywhere between 100 and 110 kts depending on weight and altitude.

[Ray Norton]

I posted the following under a different thread but did not see any answers. May I try again here?


Is the V22 flown with a stick and rudder?

A collective and a cyclic?

Maybe a yoke like a C130?

Which control tilts the rotors?

Are there traditional vertical rudders on the tail and airerons on the wings?

How about the elevator?

Does it have flaps or other devices to modify the lift and drag of the wing? Slats and a speed brake come to mind.

Regarding trim: Does the pilot just roll in a few turns on the trim wheel with palm of his hand?

Thanks.