Boeing V-22 Osprey and VTOL Military Aircraft Analysis

The V-22 was not the first of its kind; however, it is the only plane of its kind to be produced. The vertical take-off and landing, or VTOL, concept is an old idea stemming from the German Luftwaffe at the end of World War II. Following the war, the U.S. Navy built two experimental VTOL aircraft, the Pogo and the Salmon. However, the programs were ended due to technical problems. In 1958, the U.S. Air Force developed the Bell XV-3, which was the first successful VTOL to hover, but was not tested in airplane flight. After the XV-3 program proved that the tilt-rotor concept was viable, Bell developed the XV-15 tilt-rotor that was tested by NASA. In July 1979, the XV-15 became the first aircraft to tilt from helicopter to airplane and back. It was also capable of traveling 346 miles per hour in airplane mode. The success of the tests lead to the expansion of the program, which was

In conclusion, the Mv-22 Osprey is a cutting edge, aerospace design masterpiece. It provides the military with a conventional way of transporting troops or equipment to the battle field or to where an airstrip is not available. According to Lt. Col. Patrick Skeldon USMC (ret.) who was a naval training systems coordinator on the Mv-22 project at the Pentagon, “The Mv-22 is a great machine, and if given enough direction from the engineers, will become a great benefit to the Marine Corps and the entire military.”

The military has many uses for the V-22. It is used by all four branches of the military and the Coast Guard. Each branch has separate variants of the Osprey. The Marine Corps and the Navy are similar in that they both fold to become smaller for parking on aircraft carriers. The Army and Air Force use the V-22 for transport and for paratroopers. The Coast Guard uses the Osprey for nautical search and rescue, because it can fly for long periods of time, and hover to lower a rescue swimmer.

The V-22 has two rotors with three-bladed, 38-ft propellers. Each propeller is driven by an Allison AE 1107C turbo shaft engine that is capable of producing over 6,000 horsepower. The reason the Osprey does not have a tail rotor, like other helicopters is because or its twin engine design. The tail rotor on helicopters provides a force to counter react with the push that is created from the main engine turning. The tail rotor spins in the opposite direction of the main rotor. This means that if a conventional helicopter losses its tail rotor it will spin uncontrollably to one direction. On the osprey, each engine turns a separate way, thus the aircraft does not require a tail rotor. Both engines supply power for its own rotor and transfers some power to a mid-wing gear box. This gear box drives the tilting mechanism. In the event of an emergency such as an engine failure, the Osprey is capable of running on only one engine. If this happens, power from the remaining engine is dis

Some topics in this essay:
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