Heard earlier today there was a V-22 Class B mishap but without any details. Has anyone heard or know more of the same?
Incident now confirmed by Inside the Pentagon as being a class C mishap related to a 'hung' nose landing gear event at MCAS New River. Pilot spent 2 hours trying to lower the gear without success, and the aircraft was eventually landed on padded matting, cracking the FLIR turret in the process.
Thanks Ian, though I couldn't locate the article for myself via Google. (link?)
It's also rumored that a lot of the engine changes are actually due to a problem that killed Marines and was reported as fixed by Bell which then gave them the green light for production....5K PSI misting within the engine cowl. If this is true, there'll be a Congressional investigation.
Hey, for such a great aircraft, could someone explain why there's only ONE V-22 at Farnbrough this week? Sure glad it wasn't anthing more than a dog & pony mission...
There are two V-22s in Farnborough this week; one is on the static area as you come in to the show grounds with the rest of the Textron family (Bell 407, Bell 430, EZ Go golf cart, Citation XLS and CJ3 and Caravan). The other usually does at least two flights a day; one with customers or media in the morning and one as part of the airshow in the afternoon. Very impressive flight demo
What exactly happens if one of the donks stops? Can the V-22 autorotate? TiP
The engines are cross-connected - either engine can drive both prop-rotors. Not sure what hover capability the aircraft has in that configuration, but I'm sure it can fly away fine in airplane mode.
The engines are cross-connected - either engine can drive both prop-rotors. Not sure what hover capability the aircraft has in that configuration, but I'm sure it can fly away fine in airplane mode.
I'm still curious about TiP's question. Can it auto? If both donks stop, what are your options? Does it land like a FW?
Being as how it was a Jarhead flying the thing....it probably took him a couple of hours to figure out how the Gear Lever worked....too many moving parts for him to handle in one go.
Was pretty amazing seeing the v-22s flying formation over downtown London on Sunday night. Lot's of folks were wondering what the hell they were . The display aircraft continues to fly customers/media in addition to it's airshow display around 15:30 every day. Really the star of the show...apart from maybe the MIG 29 with new thrust vectoring system that allows him to do incredible stuff (double summer sault, flat spin and 90 Deg AOA pass).
Delores Etter, the Navy's chief weapons buyer, acknowledged that the V-22's availability rate is only 35%, according to one measure. But she said the program looks better using standard evaluation metrics and is consistently improving. "I really am not concerned at this point," Etter said in an air show interview.
"We're having issues we've got to work through," she added. "But if you look at where we're at in the program, where the plan has been for reliability, when we get ready to actually deploy it, we're well on the path to get there." Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, head of Marine Corps aviation, said the companies are working on changes to make maintenance easier. The military also is just starting to get the hang of its new planes before their first combat deployment next year.
"When I get a new car it takes me a while to learn how to change the oil," he said, by way of example, during a press conference. Bell Helicopter Chief Executive Michael Redenbaugh said the companies have a designed a number of forthcoming improvements. "I think that's the natural teething pains that we go through," Redenbaugh said in an interview, when asked about the maintenance concerns. One of the V-22's next challenges is to get cheaper. New aircraft cost about $70 million each right now, but the companies have a goal of $58 million per plane. To help bring costs down, the Pentagon seeks a multi-year production contract and also is showing off the aircraft to prospective foreign buyers.
"Once you have aircraft designed and ready to go, the best thing you can do in terms of affordability is buy more of them," Etter said.
Now there is a load of Bovine Feces for you!
They get "cheaper" if you buy more of them....errrr...maybe they still cost too damn much even then.
35% availability rate....and "we are not concerned"....oh, dear!
One should factor into the equation some other variables as well. The Osprey cannot land adjacent to the "island" on the Amphib Carriers thus they lose the use of that spot(s) unlike the CH-53E which can land on all spots.
The V-22 cannot haul any standard US Military Vehicle internally. (Discounts commerical ATV's) but does have the ability to haul the 120,000 USD special built M-151 jeep derivative that was chucked because of its record of killing Marines and Soldiers in car crashes (mostly rollovers).
Engine changes have to be done on the open flight deck because of height restrictions. Can you imagine the light discipline problems that will incur?
Bell and the DOD procurement folks can dress it up all they wish....but one cannot disguise a pig by putting an evening dress on it.
I'm still curious about TiP's question. Can it auto? If both donks stop, what are your options? Does it land like a FW?
As I understand it, the V22 can autorotate, although the RoD is around 6000 fpm. Should get the pucker factor going
What you really, really don't want to do is to vortex ring it. At least in a single rotor you'd have some chance of recovery, but with two side by side almost certainly one will go before the other, and that's the end of you . . .
The concept of autorotation has two phases, descent and landing. The V22 can make an autorotational descent from powered flight (but probably not enter one from sudden dual engine failure). However, it cannot make an autorotational landing, due primarily to low rotor inertia and high disk loading, both of which make it very hard to terminate survivably. In helicopter mode, if a dual engine failure occurs, the V-22 will very likely crash. Most tiltrotor arguments about the lack of survivable helo mode autorotation tend to say (inaccurately) that all rotorcraft have great problems surviving total power loss.
It does have a wing, however, so if the engines quit while it is in airplane mode it can land power-off like many airplanes, albeit at fairly high speed, since its wing loading is like a jet's. That is the solution presented when people ask if it can autorotate.
The fundamental strength of its fuselage is high, and it was designed for occupant safety in a crash, so its overall safety should be like most military transports, or better.
Missing in Action?
