http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com, JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Military officials say developmental tests of the controversial tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft are more than halfway complete, and they hope to move the program to its next phase by January.
Testers are addressing concerns about operating in a sandy environment such as Iraq, said Air Force Col. Craig Olson, the Osprey program manager.
“We know this aircraft will go to an area like that, so we are taking the time to test in an austere environment,” he said.
The aircraft was on display this weekend at the Sounds of Freedom Air Show, its first aerial presentation to the public beyond the now almost routine sight of an Osprey flying over eastern North Carolina.
“It's a showcase for how far we've come,” said Osprey program spokesman Ward Carroll.
The V-22 is a hybrid design with fixed wings and propellers that can tilt upward so the craft can take off and land like a helicopter, then rotate forward so it can fly like an airplane. The Marines want the Osprey to replace the aging fleet of CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters.
The $40 billion program has been plagued by design flaws and other problems.
Nineteen Marines were killed in an April 2000 crash in Arizona. That December, an Osprey crashed in a forest near Jacksonville, killing the four Marines aboard.
The Arizona crash was triggered by an aerodynamic situation called vortex ring state, which can occur when a rotorcraft descends too quickly while moving slowly forward, losing lift because of its rotor turbulence.
Successful tests so far have targeted low-speed maneuvering, parachute operations, pilot training and how to handle vortex ring state, military officials said.
A new warning system alerts the pilot to VRS, said Col. Glenn Walters, commander of Marine Tiltrotor Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 22. There also are procedures for pilots to follow to get out of turbulence, he said.
Teams are to leave Tuesday for the Nevada desert for tests in desert conditions.
“Our job is to develop techniques to get into [the sand] and help pilots to get out of it,” Walters said. “That is why we're testing at Nellis [Air Force Base near Las Vegas] – because of the nearby desert and mountains.”
The next phase, the operational test and evaluation, should last from January to June.
