Tue, Dec 07, 2004
Important Step Toward Op Eval Next Year
The V-22 Integrated Test Team conducted Shipboard Suitability
Phase IVc for ten days beginning on November 12. This was the
fourth and final underway period for the ITT since the
program’s return to flight in May of 2002. Phase IVc’s
successful completion was an important step on the path toward the
Osprey’s operational evaluation early next year.
The primary objective of this phase was to complete interaction
testing between a V-22 parked on the flight deck and another V-22
hovering in front of it. Additional test objectives included flight
envelope expansion for all port side landing spots aboard the LHD,
developing a night short takeoff envelope, and evaluating the
latest flight control software version.
“The team was able to get a lot done during our time
underway,” said Bill Geyer, the ITT’s lead shipboard
suitability engineer. “The data we gathered will help us
close the book on MV-22 shipboard developmental test. We’ve
given the operational testers and, in turn, the fleet the tools for
success at sea.”
While the ITT was busy working on the Wasp’s flight deck,
a group of maintainers from VMX-22, the V-22 operational test and
evaluation squadron based at MCAS New River, were in the hangar bay
conducting maintenance demonstration testing. Tests included
removing both engines, jacking the aircraft and cycling the landing
gear, and removing prop-rotor hubs and blade assemblies. The VMX-22
team’s findings will serve them well during the
squadron’s upcoming operational evaluation.
Geyer was quick to attribute the ITT’s success to their
hosts. “The Wasp was excellent,” he said. “The
bridge team went out of its way to get us the winds we needed, and
the Air Department was always willing to go the extra mile to get
the job done for us. Overall, it was the best experience I’ve
ever had at sea while conducting tests.”
(ANN salutes Ward Carroll, NAVAIR Public Affairs)
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