Marines rev up to test Osprey
Starting in January, pilots will put the troubled aircraft through moves that could determine its future

By JAY PRICE, Staff Writer

Published: Sep 18, 2004
Modified: Sep 18, 2004 5:03 AM

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER -- The future of the long-troubled V-22 Osprey troop transport is now in the hands of U.S. Marine Corps test pilots, who say they're not going to baby it.
"I'm here to make sure we fully wring it out so if they send it to the fleet, it's right," said Col. Glenn M. Walters, commander of the Marine Tiltrotor Test and Evaluation Squadron 22. "I feel a moral responsibility to say the baby's ugly if it's ugly."

The Marines gave the news media a rare glimpse of the Osprey on Friday. Walters -- a plain-talking 25-year Corps veteran who often has a cheek full of tobacco -- said his pilots are on track to begin a five-month series of tests in January that are the equivalent of a comprehensive final exam for the $48 billion program, the longest-running weapons development program in U.S. history.

The crucial "Operational Evaluation" testing will be done under conditions like those the aircraft would face in the field. Walters will move eight Ospreys around the country, testing them on aircraft carriers, in mountains and deserts, and in cold and hot climates. If the V-22 passes, the Navy could then approve it for full production.

Much is at stake in that testing. If there are more big problems, it could be a thundering disaster not just for Textron's Bell Helicopter unit and Boeing Co., which jointly make the Osprey, but also for the Marines, who need a modern replacement for their Vietnam-era transport helicopters.

The Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter, then rotate its two engines to fly like an airplane, is trying to rebound from a notorious past. It was supposed to have been put into service more than a decade ago but has suffered from a long string of problems and crashes.

A crash in Arizona in April 2000 killed 19 Marines. Another in Eastern North Carolina later that year -- just days before the Navy was to decide whether to begin full production -- left four more Marines dead. The Osprey was then grounded for two years.

Additionally, the commander of the Osprey unit at New River was found to have ordered his troops to falsify maintenance records to make the aircraft appear more reliable.

The Osprey returned to North Carolina a year ago. Since then, Ospreys have flown more than 1,000 hours while preparing for the operational tests.

Since its return, the aircraft's problems have been the type that would be expected at this stage of testing, Walters said. Some problems caught by his pilots have resulted in design changes, including a crew door that opens outward now rather than awkwardly into the aircraft.

One test pilot, Capt. John Sarno, said Friday that the aircraft was a dream to fly. He said the biggest obstacle to the program now isn't the aircraft -- it's the naysayers.

The squadron just completed preliminary tests with a payload of sandbags simulating a full load of 24 Marines and all their gear, Sarno said.

Osprey pilots aren't allowed to take certain abrupt evasive actions, something that critics call a serious weak spot. But Walters said the Osprey can move quickly in a direction away from a threat.

Walters said the standards that the Osprey is being held to are the highest he has seen in 15 years as a test pilot.

The pilots have to test within the performance limits they have been given, but after running the aircraft through everything from operating off aircraft carriers to desert operations, Walters said it will be clear whether it will do the job.

"What we can do is say, 'Hey, the envelope ain't good enough, we need more,' " he said.

Staff writer Jay Price can be reached at 829-4526 or jprice@newsobserver.com.

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