FH1100 says:
I said, "As even the dumbest helicopter pilot knows..."
20th Century replied:
"Wow, and we are fortunate enough to have you right here on PPRuNe with us to provide commentary. Aren't we lucky..."
Hey, you don't even thank me when I toss you the easy ones? Sheesh.
You're right, thanks for that. But the unfortunate truth is that everything you say are the "easy ones."
You should also be asking TukTuk BoomBoom to thank you for the conspiracy stuff that caused him to ask, "how's the tin foil hat working out?"
FH1100 says:
Do you honestly believe that a V-22 pilot on (perhaps downwind) short-short final to an LZ...a pilot who is possibly being shot at and has a bunch of other things going on and is friggin' BUSY is going to be able to recognize incipient A-VRS and react in time by calmly beeping the nacelles forward, aborting the approach and flying away?
The answer is almost certainly 'yes' if the training was effective. And after the Marana accident which is ingrained in the minds of all Osprey pilots there should be little doubt of that. But the point is that the intense training they receive is geared much more strongly to prevent them from ever encountering the situation described as key recognition factors should alert them before entering a flight regime that would be unrecoverable (just as all pilots do whether they be in helicopters, airplanes, or tiltrotors).
Having said that, a training system is only as good as its weakest link. Whether it be in helicopters, airplanes, or tiltrotors, statistics show the highest percentage of accidents are caused when someone either purposely or inadvertently does not to follow procedures or stay within limits. Training does work, but only as long as we maintain discipline and follow established practices.
A friend of mine who works for NASA experienced what he thought was the onset of VRS in the XV-15 many years before the Marana accident, and he said his reaction was instinctive and automatic as a tiltrotor pilot to push the nacelles forward. He flew out of it immediately without any consequences. Of course he was at high altitude and not under the threat of battle, but it shows as we all know that proper training can create the right mindset to allow pilots to react correctly and instinctively to situations that require immediate reaction responses.