Tue, Feb 08, 2005
Ospreys To Take Part In Operational Evaluation
The last of the MV-22 Osprey's that will take part in an
upcoming operational evaluation was recently flown from Amarillo,
TX, to Marine Tiltrotor Test and Evaluation Squadron-22(VMX-22) in
North Carolina.
The aircraft arrived to the squadron ready for full flight
operations.
The addition of the recent arrival to VMX-22's inventory has
enabled the squadron to resume flights beginning today while
awaiting spare parts for its remaining aircraft.
Last month the squadron discontinued flights at the direction of
Col. Glenn M. Walters, commanding officer of VMX-22, in order to
avoid risking a reduction in spare supply on a part of the aircraft
called the proprotor gearbox.
Prior to Walter's decision, flaking of the thin dense chrome on
the input quills within the proprotor gearbox and improper torquing
of a part within the proprotor gearbox caused a chip light
indicator to go off in several of the MV-22 Ospreys. While flights
at VMX-22 could have resumed, the decision to continue flying the
aircraft could have lead to the eventual need to replace the entire
proprotor gearbox rather than only replacing the input quill within
the proprotor gearbox.
Flights of the V-22 in Amarillo, TX, Edwards Air Force
Base, CA and Patuxent River, MD, were not affected by last month's
decision. Pending the arrival of the new input quills, VMX-22 will
fly the remaining aircraft.
With the arrival of the latest aircraft, VMX-22 will continue to
train personnel as current, qualified and proficient in the
aircraft in order to prepare for operational evaluation.
VMX-22 will fly up to eight aircraft more than 500 hours during
operational evaluation.
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