V-22 Osprey, Bell-Boeing

The V-22 Osprey is destined to be the first operational tilt-rotor aircraft. It has the configuration of the smaller V-15, with rotating engine pods set at the wingtips. The fuselage is box-like. The wing is set above the fuselage, and can rotate to be parallel with the fuselage, for storage. The tiltrotor aircraft takes off and lands like a helicopter. Once airborne, its engine nacelles can be rotated to convert the aircraft to a turboprop airplane capable of high-speed, high-altitude flight. The USAF received the first CV-22 Osprey in November 2006

The V-22 Osprey is a joint service multi-role combat aircraft utilizing tiltrotor technology to combine the vertical performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed wing aircraft. With its engine nacelles and rotors in vertical position, it can take off, land and hover like a helicopter, but once airborne, its engine nacelles can be rotated to convert the aircraft to a turboprop airplane capable of high-speed, high-altitude flight. This combination allows the V-22 to fill an operational niche no other aircraft can approach.

The Osprey can carry 24 combat troops, or up to 20,000 pounds of internal cargo or 15,000 pounds of external cargo, at twice the speed of a helicopter. It includes crosscoupled transmissions so either engine can power the rotors if one engine fails. The rotors can fold and the wing rotates so the aircraft can be stored on board an aircraft carrier or assault ship.

The Osprey's development processes have been long and controversial. When the development budget, first set at $2.5 billion in 1986, had reached $30 billion in 1988, then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney zeroed out the budget, but was overruled by Congress. The first flight occurred on March 19, 1989.

The MV-22B is equipped with a glass cockpit, which incorporates four Multi-Function Displays (MFDs) and two Communications Display Units (CDUs), allowing the pilots to display a variety of layers, including: digimaps centered or decentered on current position, FLIR imagery, primary flight instruments, navigation (TACAN, VOR, ILS, GPS, INS) and system status. The flight director panel of the Cockpit Management System (CMS) allows for fully-coupled (aka: autopilot) functions which will take the aircraft from forward flight into a 50' hover with no pilot interaction other than programming the system.