Tango01  | 04 May 2013 12:57 p.m. PST |
"The President's Marine helicopter squadron received the first of 12 MV-22 Ospreys on April 5, although the president will not be traveling aboard the tilt-rotor aircraft with the checkered early flight history. The Ospreys that join the Marine Helicopter Squadron One fleet will carry presidential support staff and the media rather than the President of the United States. Marines will paint the Ospreys in the squadron green. The VH-3D Sea King and VH-60 White Hawks that carry the president are painted white on top and called "white tops…" Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand |
| BigNickR | 04 May 2013 1:05 p.m. PST |
but.. it's safe enough for everyone BUT the president, right? |
| Mako11 | 04 May 2013 3:31 p.m. PST |
Well, if they aren't good enough for the President, then I won't be getting on one either. So much for leading by example….. |
| Lion in the Stars | 04 May 2013 3:53 p.m. PST |
When we're looking at the Osprey as the old, venerable 'Gooney Bird', the President will fly in them. The Presidential helo squadron is the last user of the SH3 Sea King, for example. Does the POTUS even ride in Blackhawks? Old, reliable, we know where this one breaks = preferred presidential transport. |
| Charlie 12 | 04 May 2013 9:02 p.m. PST |
And the decision was (as always) not made by the President. Such decisions are made by the Secret Service. So Mako, your comment is uninformed (if not a bit silly…). |
| ancientsgamer | 05 May 2013 8:47 p.m. PST |
Silly is having this aircraft available to the president who does not plan to use it. Would much rather see them delegated to combat troops who seem to be lacking a lot of equipment due to the current administration's decisions to cut back on the military wherever/whenever possible… |
| Deadone | 06 May 2013 5:23 p.m. PST |
I read a rumour that deployment of MV-22s with HMX-1 is purely a political stunt designed to promote MV-22 which has often been blasted for safety and other operational issues. Interestingly USMC were still deploying antiquated CH-53D's in Afghanistan instead of newer MV-22s. USMC have pulled a similar political stunt with standing up of "first operational" F-35B squadron (VMFA-121). Their aircraft are limited to extremely basic flight operations (no high speed, no advanced combat maneouvring), don't have fully operational systems, aren't cleared for weapons deployment and have not had tactics developed for them. So it's an operational squadron that cannot be deployed, can't drop a single bomb or fire a single missile. Due to flight restrictions and systems issues, it's usage a training tool is limited too. US and USN have only authorised basic training squadrons and evaluation squadrons for F-35. |
| Charlie 12 | 06 May 2013 7:12 p.m. PST |
Unfortunately, the USMC has become well known for playing the political stunt when they feel the urge. And deploying the MV-22 to HMX-1 fits. As for declaring the F-35 "fully operational"; remember when they declared the MV-22 ready for service (thanks to cooking the books on the evaluation flights)? How many lives did that fiasco cost… |
| Lion in the Stars | 06 May 2013 9:55 p.m. PST |
You do realize that the Osprey is the MEDIUM-lift part of the Marine's VTOL transport fleet, right? It's replacing CH46s that are the same vintage as the USAF's B52s: Training the THIRD generation of pilots (Grandfather, father, and son all have *flown* the exact same aircraft). It's also replacing CH53Ds, IIRC, but those are farther down the priority list than the CH46s. |
| Deadone | 07 May 2013 4:44 p.m. PST |
Coastal2, I forgot about the book cooking. The USMC have become an extremely gold plated force. Lion, CH-53D was replaced by CH-53E but some were retained (about a squadron's worth). These were deployed to Afghanistan instead of MV-22s. |
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