Aircraft Profile: Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey
The BellBoeing V-22 Osprey is the world's first production tiltrotor, combining the vertical performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed wing turboprop. Capable of both vertical and short take-off and landings, the Osprey typically takes off operating as a helicopter with its nacelles vertical (rotors horizontal). Once airborne, the nacelles rotate forward 90° for horizontal flight.
Manufactured by the BellBoeing joint venture, the V-22 is powered by two, 6,150shp Rolls-Royce AE1107C engines and is designed to carry 24 combat troops, or up to 20,000lb (9,072kg) of internal cargo. It is the only rotorcraft designed to self-deploy worldwide.
History
The US Department of Defense began the V-22 program in 1981, then known as the Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental (JVX) aircraft, with full-scale development beginning in 1986. The first of six MV-22 prototypes first flew in March 1989 with the US Air Force taking delivery of its first CV-22 in September 2005.
| Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey |
|---|
| Length (fuselage) | 57.33 ft | 17.48 m |
| Width (fuselage) | 15.33 ft | 4.64 m |
| Width (rotors turning) | 84.6 ft | 25.78 m |
| Height (nacelles vertical) | 22.1 ft | 6.74 m |
| Maximum Speed | 250 kts | 463 kmh |
| Maximum rate of climb | 3,200 fpm | 975 m/m |
| Range (with 24 troops) | 390 nm | 722 km |
| Range (with refuelling crew) | 2,100 nm | 3,892 km |
| MTOW (vertical) | 52,600, lb | 23,859 kg |
