V22 Ospreys over Bury St. Edmunds.

[JEM60]

Lovely sight an hour ago. 2x V22 Ospreys downwind from Mildenhall drifting past my Mother-in-Law's window against a blood red sunset. Fabulous!!.

[POBJOY]

Hi Jem
I am not sure how many of these things are around the UK, but last week i was walking the dogs over our local dunes in Hayle West Cornwall early evening and this strange sound came up from the west.Strange that is because they sound like jets rather than t/props but the speed (noise change related) is much slower than you would expect from a jet.
As it was i just glimpsed two of them, it was a couple of V22's and the first i have seen/heard.
Really strange and i guessed they were doing about 200-230 knots and it was approaching dusk so no idea where they were heading.
They may have been off a carrier in the western approaches (perhaps they were on their way to a Newquay night club for the evening).
Anyway it was a bit like "star trek" and an unusual interlude on a quiet evening stroll.
I am used to seeing Hawks zipping around low level down here so the sound-speed thing was the interesting part of the event.
I bet they are expensive to service/operate but heaps of fun for the drivers.
I see that they are being used in Libya, but have no idea if this is related to my sighting.
Interestingly many years ago the Chief Pilot at Penzance heliport mentioned to me that they would be a great machine for the "Scillies" operation when the S61 was retired, but i have no idea if a "civvy" version was ever certified let alone the COST.

[Tupperware Pilot]

Some photos can be found here.....(Not mine for a change)..
Flickr: Airwolfhound's Photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24874528@N04/)

[treadigraph]

I've never seen one in the air. There's a prototype at a museum at Brandywine in PA which I visited a few years ago.

I just missed Bell's demo aircraft which floated past my school on its way to Paris in '81, just a few seconds after I disappeared into a maths class. Several years ago my MD and I were working on a bid one swealteringly hot Sunday - the A/C was off, so we had all the office blinds closed against the sun, heard the noise of heavy choppers going past and ignored it - yep, two V-22s had wandered by while visiting for Farnborough/Fairford (neither of which I bother with!)

[JEM60]

They have been based at Mildenhall for the past 2 weeks, and are rumoured to be remaining for possibly 6 months. The sound in fixed wing aircraft mode was turboprop, but with helicopter blade noises.

[Wookey]

Are these machines involved in flights all over the uk? 3 weeks back was in Scotland (just North of Perth) and on two consecutive nights I was woken by a low flying aircraft making a very strange noise. This valley is routinely used during the day by Tornados and Tucanos.
Then last night heard the same thing around 2300hrs at home (we live under the 'Daventry Crossing' low level route). I wasnt able to see the aircraft in question on either occasion but certainly a strange sound.