V-22 Osprey

[John Howling Mouse]

More "technical" info, if you're interested.

I could see sacrificing a Herc kit for this!

http://www.vtol.org/5-Gaffey.PDF

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The little light bulb just brightened up again and this time it was in conjunction with seeing the Shorts Skyvan on the WHIF display table at Telford.  Hey, it was one of those "inspirational moments" that all of a sudden hit me as I was waiting for the image to finish loading and there was that Skyvan sitting on the table in camouflage and at first glance it almost passed for the V-22 Osprey until I focused on it and then it hit me about the wings and engines from the V-22 mating up to the Skyvan fuselage and what would it look like. 

Not having the Skyvan kit myself, I have to ask if anyone has had a chance to see if the wings and engines from the V-22 Osprey will match up on the Skyvan fuselage.  Reason I am asking is that it is about the right length overall and it has a very utilitarian design with that square fuselage shape and for some reason, it just seemed to be the right thing to do with the Skyvan and that silly Osprey.  Why not mate up the wings and fuselage and see what becomes of it.  I think it would look rather convincing with the tilt-rotor technology applied to it and it already has the twin tail arrangement so if anyone has both of those kits in their stash, how about doing a "check fit" on the parts and see what you think.

[Leigh]

Or mate up a Skyvan and a Rotodyne?

[AeroplaneDriver]

Neat idea, being a Skyvan it would probably go faster up than forward  

I flew for an airline that operated 7 SD360s (the "sleek" Shorts) and those of us flying the go-fast J31 had a pretty good list of Shorts jokes...

"the only aircraft with weather radar in the tail"

"the box the Jetstream came in"

etc...

[retro_seventies]

do a double crosskit with a shorts skyvan - now THAT is appealing.    

ditto with an ov-1o bronco!  

save the wings for something else and make it into a contraprop helicopter.  

bristow osprey? perfect for dropping those oil riggers off at work!  :ar:

how about jets instead of turboprops?  

how about two pairs of osprey wings on something else? a dash 7? a herc? a shorts 330? a bac one eleven?  

*sighs*

my breain hurts.  and i need osprey kits now...and i have a strange urge for my whisky sour (yes yes yes girl drink) and i to play with photoshop....

[Roger the Cabin Boy Again]

Skyvan Osprey merge???  Now that's spooky, I had cast my mind back to the 'Skyvan a go go' thread too, I've got a kit of that as well.  That would produce something like a Sherpa using the V-22 fuselage with those joke plywood wings added.  For the Van box - you couldn't ever call that a 'fuselage' - maybe mount the engines front and back, CH-47 style.  Helos have got to be safer.

It also prompted a thought of a Skyvan / V22 Ekranoplan using those huge motors mounted at the rear on a V tail.  I could even use the original Olympic Airways decals for an Aegean skimming beast.

Maybe a more developed version would make a good fire bomber.  

:ar:  

[AeroplaneDriver]

Trim the wingsapn by about 50%, remove the rotors, add lots of detail bits, turn it into a V-tail, and replace the wheels with skids; you have a Sci-Fi Dropship.

For something a bit more down-to-Earth, CSAR for RAF, RAAF, France, Luftwaffe, heck even CANADA!

USCG colors would look mighty fine on an Osprey too!

[Matt_S]

If one were to build a Spec-ops V-22, which would be a better place to have troops rappel(sp?) out - the tail end, or a "hell-hole" in the middle?


Matt B)  

[dragon]

Agreed
    Take a look at how it is done out of a Chinook, physical arrangement aft in the helo is similar enough to the Osprey that you could extrapolate from the helo for the Osprey in real world ops. B)  

[Jeffry Fontaine]

>>snip>>Take a look at how it is done out of a Chinook, physical arrangement aft in the helo is similar enough to the Osprey that you could extrapolate from the helo for the Osprey in real world ops.<<snip<<

Matt,

During the Vietnam conflict the CH-47 Chinook was fitted with an apparatus that was for lack of a better description basically a rope ladder elevator.  This device was fitted inside the cargo/troop compartment of the Chinook and consisted of a flexible rope ladder attached to a winching rig which allowed the ladder to go in both directions for insertion or extraction.  I have seen images of this device in use but do not remember if the troops were going through the "hell hole" in the center of the aircraft or off the cargo ramp while disembarking/embarking the aircraft.  This rope ladder elevator was in a continuous loop from the cargo ramp aft through the "hell hole" in the center of the aircraft.  This brilliant idea was designed as a solution for insertion and extraction of troops on the ground (before they figured out that FAST Roping was more expedient for insertion).  While this was seen as a means of easing the burden of the soldiers who were loaded down with kit in order to reduce fatigue, it did take up valuable space inside the aircraft in addition to keeping the aircraft stationary over the landing zone inviting hostile fire (large stationary target = bullet magnet).  

After the Vietnam conflict ended the rope elevator idea was abandoned and things went back to normal insertion and extraction methods of landing and discharging the troops on the landing zone.  While the special operations forces were by that time developing the use of FAST Rope technique for egress from the aircraft with the added benefit was less exposure to hostile fire to the aircraft and troops during the insertion mission.  Extraction, however, is another story.  

There were other methods tried and proved during the conflict as well. The STABO rig is one of them, but again, this left the personnel/troops (usually small reconnaissance teams) suspended beneath the helicopter until they were over safe territory where they could land and embark the aircraft.  Being suspended beneath a helicopter moving slowly is not the best place to be if you are trying to avoid becoming a target.  

From what I have read regarding the use of FAST Ropes from the CH-47, they used them from the personnel door as well as from the cargo ramp (three ropes total).  If you were inserting troops from the V-22 you could expect to see at the very least two FAST Ropes from the cargo ramp, not sure about a third rope on the personnel door since the stability of the V-22 may come into play on that one.  Steve Eggers (aka: stevev22fe) may have a better answer for you on that one since he is working with on the V-22 program.  FAST Ropes are good for insertion, but extraction will require the aircaft to either land to recover the troops on the ground or go to stationary hover and use a rope ladder (not the rope ladder elevator), depending on the situation and terrain.

[Matt_S]

I have the AMT/ERTL kit (which I think is the ESCI kit).

I should have clarified myself - I'm looking for a cheap source of weapons(MG's, et al) and other parts that may be useful.


Matt B)

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I have the AMT/ERTL kit (which I think is the ESCI kit).

I should have clarified myself - I'm looking for a cheap source of weapons(MG's, et al) and other parts that may be useful.

Matt,

Yes, the AMT/Ertl kit is the same that was offered by ESCI.  

If you are looking for door guns and such, the pickings are mighty slim for anything that does not come with a model kit.  You might want to look at some of the 1/72nd scale figure kits for weapons, there are some offered by Revell of Germany that may have what you need.  As far as anything decent in a model kit, there are a couple of mini-guns provided in the Italeri MH-53 Pave Low kit that would work for you but you have to purchase the kit in order to obtain the weapons unless you can find a benefactor on one of the forums to assist you with your project.  If you were doing this in 1/48th scale, you would definitely benefit from my assistance to further you along on your project but I try to stay away from 1/72nd scale since it is really hard on the eyes to focus on something that small.  If my eyesight gets any worse, I will be migrating much sooner to 1/32nd and 1/24th scale, any worse than that, and I am giving up modeling completly.

[Mossie]

Aeroclub do door mounted M60's & GPMG's in 1/72.  You can them get direct from Aeroclub, or from Hannants in the UK, but I've no idea how readily available their range is in the rest of the world.

http://www.aeroclub-models.com/p.html?n=0&c=G024
http://www.aeroclub-models.com/p.html?n=0&c=G028

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Or mate up a Skyvan and a Rotodyne?

Better yet!  V-22 wings, engines and rotors parts and apply them to the Fairey Rotodyne fuselage.  Just cut off that hunchback on the top of the fuselage and fill in the hole, then add the Osprey wings in place of the existing set up.  Only problem would be where to put the landing gear after you removed the existing engines and wings from the Rotodyne.   

Other WHIF ideas for the V-22 Osprey:

MV-22 PAVE LOW X - Fit the Osprey with the same features and equipment used on the MH-53J Pave Low to augment or eventually replace the MH-53 and create a fourth generation Pave Low mission aircraft.  Externally there would be little difference between the Pave Low V-22 and the standard V-22, most of the changes would be internal such as increased fuel capacity in the form of fuel bladders in the cargo bay. 

CV-22 Osprey VERTREP - Modify the fuselage and create a strongback to carry cargo containers or a passenger pod.  This would be similar to the CH-54 Skycrane in appearance with fuselage modified to become a central strong-back with to mount the wings and engines.  The main landing gear would be mounted on this as well to clear the cargo area to accommodate a standard 20 foot ISO container or specialized personnel pod.  The idea with this is to allow the Osprey to be a trash hauler to perform re-supply and support missions by attaching a standard ISO container to the strong-back fuselage.  Once the Osprey reaches the destination it would land and release the load and then fly off to pick up another container.  Special equipment would allow the Osprey to carry vehicles or passenger pods which could configured as command posts or medical treatment facilities that could be transported to the air head in support of operations.   

[Iranian F-14A]

Can't remember 100% but I think when I did read about Japan's interest,it was the Marine and Army.The Navy was interested in it as a rescue/minesweeping platform.This role has now went to the EH-101,so thats out,for now.The Army was looking at it as a replacement/compliment for their Chinooks.