I saw an Osprey, landing, today! Very big bird!

[Ray D]

He was landing at the Boise Airport. Maybe not a big deal, but I've never seen that before.

He was coming in, and I watched those huge propellors, too big to land. They extended lower than the landing gear! How is he going to do that?

Then, he slowed, and the engines began to tilt up. The propellors became rotors, as he continued to slow. He came down the runway a bit off the ground, turned and hovered over to the military base.

Amazing thing to watch! 

As he hovered past me, I was also surprised at the size of him. I had seen photos of them, and a video or two. You just don't get the whole picture, in a video, like live and in your face. 

Oh, and I've seen the feathered Osprey, too, while fishing. They are also pretty stunning, when they fish. Didn't see any of those today.  :

To bring this on topic for this forum, can you imagine one of those, outfitted as a camper?  8)  8)


Ray D 

 

[Great Horned Owl]

A really amazing sight is watching one land in a tree while holding a large fish in his talons. I've seen it several times, but I still absolutely don't understand how he does it without dropping the fish.

Joel

 

[SeilerBird]

I don't know how they do it either, Joel. But what I don't understand is that when they grab the fish from the water they are holding it pointing wrong for flying so as soon as they can they turn the fish so it is pointing front to back to reduce air drag. How do they know to turn the fish and how do they actually turn the fish. I have seen it a bunch of times and I still don't understand it.

 

[Ned]

Ray, those Osprey are really something.  They've been around for over 30 years.

To bring this on topic for this forum, can you imagine one of those, outfitted as a camper?

A number of years ago there was a Grumman Albatross for sale that had been set up as an RV.

 

[Larry N.]

...
A number of years ago there was a Grumman Albatross for sale that had been set up as an RV.

I remember reading about it on one of the aviation magazines some years back -- neat rig, if expensive (to operate, as well). Boy did I drool...

 

[mnmnutswer]

When I was in Iraq and Afghanistan I use to watch them land and take off all the time they are very nice and handy type of air craft. Always wanted to fly on one but never happened.

 

[Clay L]

I have never seen the  Osprey aircraft except on TV. It would be neat to watch one though.

Regarding the bird and how they carry  fish. As stated they carry them parallel to their body while eagles carry them crossways. At Cascade Lake state park in ID where we volunteered as camp hosts for three summers there were lots of them along with a number of eagle pairs. The estimate was that the eagles got over half of their fish by stealing them from osprey in flight.

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

Here are some pics of them practicing take-off & Landings in the desert around Yuma,AZ

 

[ArdraF]

'Way back in the 1970s I worked at Lockheed and read a lot about the new concept of a VTOL (Vertical Take Off & Landing) aircraft.  I didn't see then how it could possibly work but someone had a really neat idea and it does, as the Osprey proves.

Which reminds me, we also had a lot of information on drones and I wondered what possible use they could have.  The other day the newspaper had a photo of a miniature drone that is not much bigger than your thumb.  It can be carried by soldiers on patrol so they can look around corners and over walls while staying safe.  Fantastic idea!  Another thing I worked on was heads-up displays in fighter aircraft which is another idea now in use.  We are living in such a neat technological era!

ArdraF

 

[mnmnutswer]

It started out as an Australian aircraft and now our Marines have a few of them, if it works for what they want there will be more.

 

[Molaker]

It started out as an Australian aircraft and now our Marines have a few of them, if it works for what they want there will be more.

I wasn't aware it started as an Australian aircraft.  Maybe it was just the "concept" that was Australian.  Here's a Wikipedia link with some info.

Back in the mid 60's I was stationed at NAF China Lake, Ca.  I was assigned to the drone dept. where we flew (or tried to fly  ) F9F Cougars and Ryan Firebee drones as target drones to test missiles.  While there, we got to watch a Harrier do some testing which was quite interesting.

 

[inscop]

The Harrier AV8B.  No propellers at all!  I used to work on these puppies every day and I would always just stare every time one went into a hover.

In this video, it does a short take off, vertical landing and vertical take off:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu54pdBsA-o

 

[Tom]

Aye, we used to supply parts for the avionics of the original (UK) Harrier, and I was always amazed to see the vertical takeoff/landing and hover maneuvers. Some months ago I had an interesting discussion with a retired US navy pilot; The US navy version of the Harrier was modified and didn't require the pilot to rotate while still in the VTO position.

 

[Yellowboat]

I saw my first Osprey in Washington State yesterday.  We were at Camping World and as we got out of the car I heard and aircraft so I looked up.  A few days ago our local news gave a report that Fort Lewis would be hosting night flight operations.  I assumed the Osprey might be part of that exercise but they are flown by the Marines and might not be a part of an Army exercise.

We see lots of Osprey when we winter in Southern California.

Safe travels.

JD

 

[Pierat]

Lots of them around Bonneville Lock  & Dam. These are hanging around the middle turn in the north fish ladder, second powerhouse, during salmon run.

 

[carson]

VTOL 101... MV-22 Osprey demonstration...narrated (13.5 min) video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kF8P_eWRcU

 

[Larry N.]

I watched a V-22 back in 2009 when we were at a Trailomanor rally at Palo Duro Canyon (just S. of Amarillo, for those who don't know). It was neat, as it went by multiple times with rotors tilted just a little forward of vertical -- even got some video of it. A unique sound too, of course.

 

[carson]

Along the same line, Larry. I lived in Bellevue, WA at the time and had a wonderful spot to watch A Harrier VTOL jet appear during the famous power boat races on Lake Washington. On the water aboard my 35' Trawler  on a sunny day we had an unobstructed view overhead and watched the pilot impress the crowd of thousands, a lot of them in boats, perform spectacular maneuvers. Too bad it was before digital cameras were common were in vogue.



 

 

[mnmnutswer]

Not for sure of the real name everyone called it a "flying box car". I was in a couple in Iraq. Only about two hundred feet above the ground and flying very fast. First ride was fun after that it made me sick. Very jerky dodging everything in site that was in the way.

 

[Molaker]

Not for sure of the real name everyone called it a "flying box car". I was in a couple in Iraq. Only about two hundred feet above the ground and flying very fast. First ride was fun after that it made me sick. Very jerky dodging everything in site that was in the way.

I don't know what craft you may have flown in, but the original "flying boxcar" was the old C-119.