Osprey crash at Bellows.
- Thread starter BobDDuck
- Start date
It's actually not a bad bird. Had some growing pains and is somewhat unforgiving in ways. But so were the A/C model Harriers, and they've developed into good planes. The Marines like their Ospreys, but it's a bird that requires a healthy amount of respect and doesn't tolerate much complacence.
JeppUpdater
Well-Known Member
AP says 12 on board, all taken to hospital. Better then the alternative.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Local source says 21 on board, 12 taken to the hospital. It was in a "landing state" and the hut the ground hard and started burning.
There were 4 of them flying around. 1 was flying CAP (or whatever the equivalent is) and the other three were doing approaches from over the ocean. from where I was. Three went in, 2 came out and then there was a lot of black smoke.
Lawman
Well-Known Member
Yeah... So what if the helicopter it replaced had the highest Class A incident rate per flight hour in the Marine Corps.... The Osprey is obviously flawed what with less deaths per flight hour in 20 years of development and 10 years of service not to mention operating at higher DAs. Bring back the underpowered, overworked, metal fatigued Phrogs!
I heard a 737s tail once snapped off too... What is the Navy doing buying P-8s when they have a perfectly good 60 year old airplane that can do the job half as well... When it isn't down for MX.
jynxyjoe
Queso King
Boy I wish I had you back in 2005 at Pax river. We actually had the MMA billboards back then.
So to be clear, the Osprey is now overpowered? Also, we're going to compare a modern super-whirlygig against a fatality rate for helos stretching back into the stone age of Vietnam?
I'll take the money we blew on that thing and make a real helo you can enjoy and not crash in. Then I'll take the money we blew expanding the certification into the civilian side of thing, because the civilian buyers were gonna piggy back on this superior design and the program would make the money back in spades (never happened and I'm still convinced was a ploy worthy of conviction under use/abuse/fraud/waste). Edit:run on sentence. I'd take the money we blew on parallel civilian cert and dump it back in the GI bill, since it was a GIANT bust.
I had to deal with the pie in the sky nonsense in the mid 2000z, I don't need it again. If it were up to me they'd be beer cans but they didn't ask me. Duck on FFOD spinups after ice accretion for me.
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The Marines and USAF both seem to like them. The growing pains of the Osprey revolutionary design were similar to the same revolutionary design the Harrier was. After some significant losses of A/C Harriers, mods were made to the B model Harriers that made it a more stable platform, and the Harrier has since been a good aircraft. I think we're over the hump in that respect with the Osprey, at least I hope so, and that flight control and aerodynamic phenomena inherent to the powered-lift design, which were in their infancy in the 1990s and early 2000s, have mostly been understood or at least accounted for.
I find Ospreys to be weird too, being a rotary wing guy myself, and know they have some inherent limitations; but their crews seem to like them. *shrug*
Let's not forget when the Corps acquired CH46s there were some catastrophic inflight failures that resulted in multiple fatalities. These problems also played themselves out against the backdrop of Vietnam, but they were dealt with and the 46 became the mainstay of Marine Corps rotary wing aviation.
Lawman
Well-Known Member
In the 5 years they flew side by side the 46 had a higher class A rate than the Osprey.
In the first 5 years of its existence where it spent most of its time outside Vietnam the 46 had 55 class A's (in a much cheaper airframe with much cheaper parts to replace from damage). Osprey is also far more survivable to the occupants in back than any 60/46/comparable medium lift helo having crash seats and a transmission/rotor head that doesn't come down on top of you in a crash sequence.
You can talk out your ass on this all you like but with what your spouting you obviously aren't linked too nor know anybody who is linked to the 22 community.
Despite a highly public crash caused by the pilot F'ing up its reputation in testing the Osprey is an outstanding platform and second only to the 47G in use by Special Ops. If you knew anything about Special Ops aviation, due to the sheer value of the personnel involved we don't use anything less than its peers when it comes to available aircraft.
But yeah you can sit on here and complain (because it's a free Internet forum) about how it "can't auto" or "is a death trap" or whatever classic 15 year old talking point.
pullup
Homewrecker
The Ospreys are a fantastic tool, they were a little shaky out of the gate but hey have found their stride.
jynxyjoe
Queso King
Not since 05 nope. Was wildly unimpressed then and dogmatic shouting does less.
Anyone needing a less dickish tone to the conversation can always research it.
jynxyjoe
Queso King
The money and waste for a product that's an r&d dead end doesn't validate the project for me. However, there's an argument to be made that some branches need more R&D than others. Seems like for the money blown and promises never kept, never mind the scandles, we could have built a better helo and given every special forces guy a triple pension with a free round every sunday at the golf course on site.
Nark
Macho Superpilot
@jynxyjoe
I respect you dude, but you're out of your element.
The Osprey is a fantastic bird. Ive had the pleasure of flying in it. I've also had the pleasure of flying the death trap OH-58A's from Vietnam. (I really love flying the Kiowa, but that is my point)
How much pilot error are you forgetting?
I think @Lawman may know a thing or two about the aircraft. Even if he wakes up every morning and yells, ATTACK!
I respect you dude, but you're out of your element.
The Osprey is a fantastic bird. Ive had the pleasure of flying in it. I've also had the pleasure of flying the death trap OH-58A's from Vietnam. (I really love flying the Kiowa, but that is my point)
How much pilot error are you forgetting?
I think @Lawman may know a thing or two about the aircraft. Even if he wakes up every morning and yells, ATTACK!
jynxyjoe
Queso King
My perspective is that we could have filled a ton of other wish list items for guys using that money and had a larger net life savings than anything the Osprey represents.
In other words, the amount we had to spend to get that thing far exceeds any benefit when compared to a host of other projects that must have been out there that didn't get funding. I can't look at the project cost and rationalize it, I don't care how nice it flies. We couldn't quit early on and spend money on something with more net gains?
Zondaracer
Well-Known Member
Sounds like one guy died, RIP, 21 guys injured. I hope the 21 survivors all pull through. Let's remember what is important here at the moment.