Hi Sas,
Thanks for that. I do remember your 'airshow' post well although I thought there was a green rum drink or something being consumed rather than the Heinies??
I have seen Osprey approaches (as well as XV-15 and 609), but never had the opportunity to see side by side approaches with other a/c as you had the opportunity to see:
....an Osprey is doing night landings a bit closer than the 53D did.
Observations....
The 53D is a classic!
The 22 is fast, quiet approaching, but noiser than the 53D at a hover.
You have been around the block more than a couple of times, so I completely trust your comparison assessment, although if you're like me our hearing capability after a few decades in the business makes all the sound seem quieter than it actually is!
From what you observed I think we can agree that the tiltrotor is much more quiet enroute and on approach to the LZ. My point would be that once you arrive at the LZ, it doesn't make much of a difference if you are 'loud' like a CH-53 or 'louder' like a V-22 in the hover. If the bad guys are there when you arrive, they will already know you are there regardless.
I previously linked the video below that shows how much more quiet an approaching tiltrotor is compared to what we fly now. I don't know if it is purely the decibel numbers or if it is the frequency of the sound, but there is a very big difference.
BTW, could you PM me the recipe for that green rum drink, it sounded very interesting!
21stC