Navair public affairs news release (Dec. 8, 2004): Osprey completes final shipboard developmental testing.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. -- The V-22 integrated test team conducted Shipboard Suitability Phase for 10 days aboard USS Wasp beginning Nov. 12, 2004.

The primary objective of this phase was to complete interaction testing between an Osprey parked on the flight deck and another Osprey hovering in front of it.

Additional test objectives included flight envelope expansion for all port-side landing spots aboard the USS Wasp, developing a night short takeoff envelope, and evaluating the latest flight control software version.

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"The team was able to get a lot done during our time under way," said Bill Geyer, the integrated test team's lead shipboard suitability engineer. "The data we gathered will help us close the book on shipboard developmental test. We've given the operational testers and, in turn, the fleet the tools for success at sea."

While the integrated test team was busy working on Wasp's flight deck, a group of maintainers from tilt-rotor operational test squadron (VMX) 22, the V-22 operational test and evaluation squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, were in the hangar bay conducting maintenance demonstration testing.

Tests included removing both engines, jacking the aircraft and cycling the landing gear, and removing proprotor hubs and blade assemblies. The VMX-22 team's findings will serve them well during the squadron's upcoming operational evaluation.

Geyer was quick to attribute the integrated test team's success to their hosts.

"The Wasp was excellent," he said. "The bridge team went out of its way to get us the winds we needed, and the Air Department was always willing to go the extra mile to get the job done for us. Overall, it was the best experience I've ever had at sea while conducting tests."

This was the fourth and final underway period for the integrated test team since the program's return to flight in May of 2002.