Comments on: Osprey Fire Injures Marine

By: TrustButVerify

TrustButVerify — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:21:04 +0000

I'm pretty ambivalent about this bird. On one hand I'd love to see it succeed, and it's not going away any time soon- thank Congress for that. On the other hand, the Osprey has arguably cost a good deal more than it's worth. The fact is that this program won't vanish into the breeze because of the problems listed in this post, because they can be called "teething problems." Every system has them. A system as complex as the V-freakin'-22 is going to have plenty, and in the end I'm just happy there haven't been any more catastrophic (or fatal) failures.

By: Grandjester

Grandjester — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:59:30 +0000

And you know, after Christian’s video I was almost ready to eat my words about this very expensive turkey, but…
”…suffered an engine nacelle fire, a recurring problem.“
”…reliability in Iraq (and stateside) continues to be less than desired…“
”…engines are wearing way too fast.“
”…a nasty tendency to go bad,“
I return to my original assesment. This thing is a TURD.

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:40:11 +0000

And Rolls-Royce is bailing out on taking care of the engines, so the rumor is that the Marines are going to go for GE engines. Seems everything about these toys is short-lived, except the politics that kept the program alive.

By: Vstress

Vstress — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:25:23 +0000

Vercingetorix:
I’m not completely clued up on military operational aspects (even though I work on design). But shouldn’t the pilot notice that on a quick walk-around of the a/c?
Anyways, yup the engines will be Rolls Royce’s responsibility, hence why Bell aren’t afraid to comment on it. Otherwise they would also be keeping quiet. Maybe DT can ask Rolls Royce some questions, as a press organisation?

By: Fier

Fier — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:19:31 +0000

The thing with new toys is that, essentially,
everything depends on whether or not you read the instruction manual,
and furthermore, whether or not the instruction manual is in readable english…

By: James

James — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:52:41 +0000

LOL so much for idiot prof.
I this the reason for the new engines?

By: Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:26:27 +0000

“And a Marine spokesman told me the fire on March 14 happened because someone neglected to remove an engine intake cover. I should have more on this later.“
That’ll do it. There is a reason they stencil on the covers ‘Remove Before Flight.’