For want of a camera...

[FlyNHighNFast]

There I was, cruising on I40 eastbound, about 7 miles outside of Albuquerque and lo and behold. What is that flying towards me? Why, it could not be, but is was... An Osprey.. I have to say, it just looks weird in flight, with the huge rotor/props on the nacelles way out on the wing tips, it was in airplane mode at the time, I would have gotten a couple of great pics as it made a left turn over a VOR and headed south, out of sight.

[Voluptuary5]

There I was, cruising on I40 eastbound, about 7 miles outside of Albuquerque and lo and behold. What is that flying towards me? Why, it could not be, but is was... An Osprey.. I have to say, it just looks weird in flight, with the huge rotor/props on the nacelles way out on the wing tips, it was in airplane mode at the time, I would have gotten a couple of great pics as it made a left turn over a VOR and headed south, out of sight.

 

My Brother works next to Kirtland AFB and often mentions seeing them fly in-and-out. I have also seen some fly over my house in Oregon on their way up to the mountains for some training. Very cool to see in person. At first you think "what the hell is that" and then it becomes obvious. Definitely nothing that sounds and flies like it. They are very cool.

 

On another note, weren't the first Osprey supposed to see duty sometime late last year in Afghanistan? Any word on how they have been performing?

 

 

-V5

[bossman]

There I was, cruising on I40 eastbound, about 7 miles outside of Albuquerque and lo and behold. What is that flying towards me? Why, it could not be, but is was... An Osprey.. I have to say, it just looks weird in flight, with the huge rotor/props on the nacelles way out on the wing tips, it was in airplane mode at the time, I would have gotten a couple of great pics as it made a left turn over a VOR and headed south, out of sight.

Just sitting around 6L4, hanger flying, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, an Osprey. It landed and a young Marine jumped out and said that we did not see him or his machine. In a few minutes his wife and child drove up and they visited while we all took a tour. In about an hour it was gone. One hell of a bird. It is amazing to watch it transition from hover to flight. The rotors are enormous.

[Linc]

I've seen it takeoff and come in to land, out here in the sandbox. One time, it appeared that one pilot was a previous fixed-wing and one was a previous helicopter pilot, because one guy had the nacelles 70 percent foward during base and one had almost made the full helicopter transition. Very interesting aircraft.

[Masak]

I have used to watch them here in sandbox too (Anbar). They look pretty impressive and I was kind of surprised how quiet they are while in flight.