Thu, Apr 05, 2007
CV-22 Crew At Kirtland AFB Sets Record On Training Flight
Aero-News has learned the Bell-Boeing V-22 fleet surpassed
25,000 flight hours recently. The milestone occured when a crew
from the 71st Special Operations Squadron (71st SOS) at Mew
Mexico's Kirtland AFB flew a 2.4-hour student qualification flight
in CV-22 No. 02-0024, on March 9. The 71st SOS is the Air Force
training squadron for the CV-22.
Air Force crew-members on the historic flight included Lt. Col.
Todd A. Lovell, aircraft commander and director of operations for
the 71st SOS, Lt. Col. James E. Breck and Capt. Patrick D. Fronk,
both members of the first student class of the 71st SOS.
Additional aircraft crewmembers aboard the flight were SSgt Jeremy
Hoye, TSgt. Joseph N. Levine and TSgt Aaron S. Brown.
"It was a great flight. The aircraft performed flawlessly at
Belen Airport and in the southwest remote areas. The CV-22 is an
excellent aircraft, and we're pleased to be the crew that takes the
fleet over the 25,000 flight hour threshold," Lt. Col. Lovell
said.
Lt. Col. James Cardoso, commanding officer of the 71st SOS,
added, "It's been one year since we received our first CV-22, and
the aircraft have been just superb."
The 71st SOS became the Air Force's inaugural CV-22 unit when it
was activated in 2005. The 71st traces its heritage back to World
War II as a troop carrier squadron. It provided support during the
Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, when it flew the first
AC-119 gunships, and Operation Desert Storm.
Bell-Boeing is a joint venture between Bell Helicopter and
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, created specifically to develop
and produce the V-22 Osprey and its variants.
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