# I saw an Osprey aircraft today. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 24, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916 "2014-07-24T09:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/1 "2014-07-24T09:12:22Z")
I live in the [Bay Area](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area) and I saw an [Osprey (check out the 1:58 mark)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vglHpvcK-Jk) trailing what appeared to be a [Marine One type helicopter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_One) today. (The President is in town). The Osprey’s wings were in the near vertical position. Both the helicopter and Osprey were flying fairly low so I got a good look at both. The Osprey has to be one of the most peculiar flying machines I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![allyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@allyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allyn)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/2 "2014-07-24T09:26:17Z")
…saw it yesterday too around Los Altos and Mt. View. The Osprey has a very distinctive sound… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/3 "2014-07-24T10:49:13Z")
> [@allyn](#): > > …saw it yesterday too around Los Altos and Mt. View. The Osprey has a very distinctive sound… Yes allyn. I was at the corner of the Embarcadero and El Camino when it flew right over Stanford heading towards Moffet. You’re right, it was the sound that got me (thx). Fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/4 "2014-07-24T16:24:52Z")
As an Infantryman I can’t wait until they give the frame to Billy Bob and tell him to throw as much fire support in the Osprey as possible. I don’t know if it can handle a howitzer…but with it’s payload you can stick a few bigger chain guns inside of it and make a ‘Puff the Magic Dragon-ling’. As Close Air Support, with Air Superiority, I think this frame could do some manga type stuff to an area. With Air Superiority… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/5 "2014-07-24T16:47:06Z")
Do they have controls to prevent the pilot rotating the props fully forward when on the ground, or is it just a case of observing protocols? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/6 "2014-07-24T17:13:24Z")
So when the Osprey takes off vertically like a helicopter, how does it get its blades back down parallel to the ground? It can’t just turn them off while the plane’s in the air and held aloft by those same blades, right? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/7 "2014-07-24T17:16:11Z")
I’ve seen those quite a bit, but then again Boeing’s development facility is just in Ridley Park, PA. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/8 "2014-07-24T17:25:52Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > So when the Osprey takes off vertically like a helicopter, how does it get its blades back down parallel to the ground? It can’t just turn them off while the plane’s in the air and held aloft by those same blades, right? They rotate forward slowly and the airplane transitions from VTO to forward flight. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/w9PVFtmKNdo/hqdefault.jpg "V-22 Osprey Takeoff") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9PVFtmKNdo) ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/9 "2014-07-24T17:55:04Z")
I saw it too. Wanted to take a picture but I was working at the time. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/10 "2014-07-24T18:07:53Z")
[quote=“Intergalactic\_Gladiator, post:8, topic:693916”] They rotate forward slowly and the airplane transitions from VTO to forward flight. [/QUOTE] Wow that is really cool! I had no idea it could move the blades and stay airborne and pointed in the same direction like that! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/11 "2014-07-24T19:18:02Z")
I drive past MCAS Miramar to get to work, and there are often Ospreys in the air. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/12 "2014-07-24T19:32:29Z")
That’s a cool aircraft and all but it has got to be the very epitome of ‘design by committee’. Also, I guess I hadn’t really looked closely before but I had always assumed that beast could land like a conventional aircraft if needed. The rotor diameter seems to preclude that. ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/13 "2014-07-24T19:39:36Z")
Cool. I wrote some of the navigation software for that thing way back when GPS was still new and exciting. During testing, they took it up, flew it around a bit and then tried to land on an ‘X’ using GPS only. They touched down about 1/2 inch away from the center of the ‘X’ which blew the pilots’ minds how accurate it was. We admitted that was more luck than anything (eventually). ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/14 "2014-07-24T19:42:06Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > The rotor diameter seems to preclude that. Not only that, but the rotors have to be rotated to a specific angle (think upside-down Y) to tilt the engines forward for maintenance when it’s sitting on the ground. Even then, the engines are high enough that it requires a scissor lift or boom to access the engine. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/15 "2014-07-25T02:08:52Z")
To be fair though, the Osprey is pretty freakin cool even if some of the design features are a little strange. Check out the Cl-84 Dynavert. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/16 "2014-07-25T05:27:57Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > To be fair though, the Osprey is pretty freakin cool even if some of the design features are a little strange. Check out the Cl-84 Dynavert. [[ I like the Dynavert much better than the Osprey…🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/17 "2014-07-25T10:21:21Z")
I’ve seen these Brit-side a number of times in the last year or two. The first time I saw one I had to go and Google “rotor planes” to find out what it was - it was passing quite low with its rotors in “prop” mode and they seem to turn really, really slowly. I’m not that far from Lakenheath, which explains why I see assorted American planes quite regularly. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/18 "2014-07-25T21:24:00Z")
What does a V22 do if the engines fail? Does it auto-rotate like a helicopter, or glide down? Can it glide/fly with the engines pointing up? Because it obviously can’t land with them pointing forward. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/19 "2014-07-25T21:55:06Z")
The people on board pray & cuss a lot before impact. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916/20 "2014-07-25T22:07:14Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > The people on board pray & cuss a lot before impact. To be fair, people on roofs and ladders do that too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-an-osprey-aircraft-today/693916.md?page=2)