V-22 Sprints to Success

Good to see this pig finally fly! For more than a few miles anyway.

Air Transportation: V-22 Sprints to Success: "V-22 Sprints to Success

January 25, 2008: The U.S. Marine Corps has had ten MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft (a squadron) in Iraq for five months now [PHOTOS]. The marines wanted combat experience for their new aircraft, and they got it. This enabled the marines to find out what the MV-22 did best. As expected, the higher speed and cruising altitude of the MV-22 was very useful. Moving troops to where they are needed, or getting badly wounded marines to a hospital, were things the MV-22 excelled at, moving at twice the speed of the helicopters previously used. Cruising at a higher altitude (10,000 feet or more) than helicopters, and moving faster, gave the enemy much less opportunity to get off a shot, much less score a hit. The heavy use also revealed which parts were likely to wear out when, something you never really find out until you get the aircraft into a combat zone. The modern cockpit, including auto-pilot, makes the MV-22 much easier to fly than the helicopters they replace."