Originally Posted by
casper64
Tilt rotors are plain silly, except for semi-tactical/strategic transport from a ship where higher distances (over a flat sea) can be covered more quickly. I still cannot imagine a tiltrotor doing 100kts NOE…. And with NOE I mean real NOE, so not at a 100ft but 20ft, being agile enough to really follow the terrain like a Huey or Blackhawk could.
You must not have seen the “hide-and-go-seek” video of the XV-15 playing with a OH-58 at below tree levels, at times with her belly in the grass. The tiltrotor platform can certainly perform NOE maneuvers and missions if that is part of the design mission set. It certainly was not for the V-22 and it shows (high disk loading and downwash, limited agility in VTOL mode) but those aren’t fundamental to the concept, they’re a fall out of the mission requirements for V-22. Lower disk loading and higher flapping capabilities are known and demonstrated capabilities for a smaller tactical aircraft.