1st production CV-22 delivered, Osprey gets full-rate OK

The first production CV-22 Osprey was delivered on Sept. 16 to the U.S. Air Force. Produced jointly by Bell Helicopter and Boeing, the CV-22 is the U.S. Air Force Special Operations variant of the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft, and will be used for long-range special operations missions, contingency operations, and evacuation and maritime missions. Also last month, the Department of Defense approved full-rate production of the V-22. The decision allows the program to increase production beyond the current minimum sustaining rate of 11 aircraft per year to 48 by the year 2012.

Also Around Boeing:

• Addressing more than 600 Boeing retirees, Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Alan Mulally discussed the changing commercial airline environment during a live webcast Aug. 25 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, with links to sites in Auburn and Edmonds, Wash. Later that day, Mulally spoke before 200 business, community and government leaders at the museum. Boeing held the two town-hall-style events to tout commercial aviation's significance to the local and U.S. economies and to spotlight Boeing's newest airplanes, the 787 Dreamliner and 777-200LR Worldliner.
• More than 300 Boeing employees and retirees volunteered to support the inaugural Boeing Greater Seattle Classic golf tournament, held in August in Snoqualmie, Wash. This PGA Champions Tour event raised $750,000 to benefit the Heart Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.
• Boeing World Headquarters is helping the Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago build its own performance space in Chicago. The Muntu Dance Theatre is one of the United States' premier art institutions specializing in authentic and progressive interpretations of African and African-American dance, music and folklore.