I was speaking to a V22 pilot yesterday who went from flight school to the Osprey. He first did some rotary wing flying and multi-engine fixed wing and his impression was that the Osprey feels more like operating a ME turbo-prop than a helicopter. It can be trimmed hands off in the hover due to fly-by-wire so the traditional helicopter skills are not needed as much. Only 10% of the typical mission needs helicopter type skills.
I am still inclined to think that a helicopter background is going to be safer than fixed wing if they start using it for SAR or extended hover work. May not be relevant for the 609 but I know who I would prefer in the front seat if I was pax. Easier to teach a helicopter pilot to fly at 250 knots than to teach a plank driver to hover or approach with VRS in mind.
Any V22 pilots want to enlighten us?