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April 05, 2006
How Nice the Government Got More Than It Paid For
...if the thing really does take-off and land itself.
...Naval officials looking into last week's MV-22 Osprey mishap are considering whether recent maintenance work done on the aircraft may have somehow contributed to the incident, according to a Marine Corps general and Pentagon sources.The cause of the mishap remains undetermined, but the aircraft suffered “major damage to its wing and right engine” March 27 at New River, NC, according to a statement issued by the service after the incident. The aircraft damage “resulted from an inadvertent takeoff followed by a hard landing” on the base's flight line during a post-maintenance functional check flight, according to the statement.
"Inadvertant" as in "WTF?!" Hahahaha! I didn't see this on 60 Minutes, or anywhere else for that matter. And how typical ~ blame the LCpl fixin' the thing when your multi-gazillion dollar trainwreck acts a little hinky.
Naval officials looking into last week's MV-22 Osprey mishap are considering whether recent maintenance work done on the aircraft may have somehow contributed to the incident...
The best little tidbit in the article?
Naval officials are also reviewing a particular incident in 2005 that is somewhat similar to the March 27 mishap, a service official told Inside the Navy . The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did know the specifics.
Last year something(what) similar? It was doing this last year? In my best Jewish grandmother voice I ask, "Who knew?"
Marines exit the Osprey after being told their mothers were going to kill them if they caught them anywhere near that plane.
Posted by tree hugging sister at April 5, 2006 10:34 PM
Comments
...considering whether recent maintenance work done on the aircraft may have somehow contributed to the incident...
It seems to me simply fueling it contributes to these 'incidents.'
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at April 5, 2006 10:44 PM
I still like it, or the idea anyway. I hope they can work the bugs out. I hope in 20 years you'll be able to look back and see that it was a good idea after all.
But that doesn't mean I don't agree with the complaints about it. It needs to be better.
Posted by: Mike Rentner at April 6, 2006 08:52 AM
But then again, twenty years ago the manufacturers were visiting Tustin and El Toro and told me that the Osprey would be in the fleet in another year.
So maybe in 20 years they'll still be trying to get it in the fleet!
Posted by: Mike Rentner at April 6, 2006 08:53 AM
Oh, I think the idea is great, too. It's just the little detail of translating that into reality...
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at April 6, 2006 09:05 AM
According to the Grinch, eastern Airlines spent a significant amount of cash on R&Ding this concept in the 60's/70's, only to determine that there were too many variables to ever make it feasible. Someone should have tracked down Frank Borman and asked first.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at April 6, 2006 09:38 AM
Oh, great. First, we see below that the Navy is sending its sailors out into the desert to do the Army's and USMC's jobs. Second, we see them continuing to flush money down the toilet on this ludicrous project. Yet, we are also told that they "don't have the money or the manpower" to refit and reactivate a couple of battleships, at exactly the moment when doing so could serve a useful purpose. That's just fucking brilliant.
Posted by: Dave J at April 6, 2006 12:09 PM
The sure way to get this fixed quickly is to require that the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps are required to fly on the Osprey for all short range air trips.
I'll also second Dave on reactivating Wisconsin or Iowa.
Posted by: Tainted Bill at April 6, 2006 12:14 PM
The navy isn't doing the Marines' job in Iraq. They're there to be our gate guards.
Posted by: Mike Rentner at April 6, 2006 01:20 PM
Yeah, Dave! Where'd ya get the Navy's doing the Marines' job?
Posted by: tree hugging sister at April 7, 2006 09:03 AM