I’ll start this article by admitting that military tiltrotor aircraft are a little outside my wheelhouse! I typically have had some hand in testing or some real-world experience with the aircraft type or scenery location that I review for PC Pilot but time on type with the V-22 Osprey is exclusively reserved for the United States and Japanese Defense Force in the real world.
The V-22 Osprey combines the best of two concepts, functioning as a hybrid between a tandem-rotor transport helicopter and a conventional fixed-wing turboprop aircraft. The design’s conceptualisation stemmed from Operation Eagle Claw - a failed extraction of hostages from the US Embassy in Tehran. It was post this event that the US military sought an aircraft that could take off and land vertically but also had the ability for long-range high-speed cruise flight.
A joint program was begun by Bell and Boeing Helicopters in the early 1980s to build what would become the Osprey - with the first test flight undertaken in 1989. The development process was lengthy and protracted, primarily due to the requirement for the aircraft to be capable of folding its wings and rotors for confined stowage aboard ships.
The type has since seen service with the US Marines, A…
