FEBRUARY 2016 | 19 those in this group, the versatile Osprey is the aircraft of choice, according to the Marines who fly and maintain it. “You can work on a Model T or a Ferrari,” said Sgt. Daniel Wosek, a VMM-365 mechanic. “I prefer to go fast.” The Osprey has conducted earthquake relief efforts in Nepal, typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines and Hurricane Sandy relief efforts along the eastern coastline of the United States. A U.S. Air Force CV-22 took significant enemy fire during a South Sudan evacuation, but refueled and remained airborne until it could get its wounded to safety. The Osprey has rescued a downed Air Force pilot in a hostile part of Libya. With its speed and range the V-22 also is used in casualty evacuation or medical transport to get patients rapidly to medical treatment, in one case transporting a Marine with a ruptured appendix. The aircraft is built jointly by Bell and Boeing. At the Boeing site in Ridley Township, Pa., employees design, engineer and manufacture the fuselage, avionics, electrical wiring and hydraulic tubing; in Amarillo, Texas, Bell employees add the wings, empennage and rotors. At the Boeing site, a V-22 Readiness Operations Center tracks all Osprey flights worldwide and provides “big data” analytics to customers that helps streamline maintenance and identify potential parts or systems failures. The Marines and Air Force Special Operations Command collectively operate 300 of 442 Ospreys that have been ordered, while the U.S. Navy
Frontiers February 2016 Issue
To see the actual publication please follow the link above