OSPREY COMING BACK EDWARDS GEARS UP FOR FLIGHT TESTING OF NEW CRAFT.

Byline: Daily News

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Pilots, engineers and mechanics are gearing up for the resumption in July of flight testing of two Air Force versions of the V-22 Osprey.

The tilt-rotor crafts were grounded after a December 2000 crash of a Marine Corps Osprey, and the Edwards Air Force Base test force is correcting deficiencies identified by the Marine Corps and a Defense Department panel of experts.

At Edwards, testing will pick up where it left off in 2000 with an emphasis on the aircraft's radar capabilities, said Maj. Todd Lovell, commander of the 18 Flight Test Squadron's Detachment 1 at Edwards. The 18 FLTS is a Special Operations test squadron based at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

``Because the aircraft hasn't flown since late 2000, we will have two initial shakedown flights,'' Lovell said. ``After that, we will resume developmental testing with a goal of moving the program towards operational tests scheduled for 2006.''

Once testing resumes, Lovell said the CV-22 team will focus on electronic counter-measure and terrain-following tests. The aircraft takes off like a helicopter but flies like an airplane.

Much of the test team's correctional work is focused on tubing and wires that were positioned too closely to other materials, causing them to rub, said Tech Sgt. John Lysaght, an Edwards CV-22 structural mechanic.

Mechanics working on the two test aircraft at Edwards have been changing the routing and placement of the wires to create a free zone around them, Lysaght said.

``We know this aircraft more intimately because we've been involved in improving the design aspects from Day One,'' Lysaght said. ``We are getting in there and getting things changed. This results in better tech data for the crews who will be maintaining this aircraft and it means a safer aircraft for those who will be flying it.''

Staff Sgt. David Stephens, a tilt-rotor journeyman working on the CV-22, notes that everyone working around him in the Osprey hangar has been hand-picked. The tour is a special duty assignment, and most of the mechanics working on the redesign of the CV-22 at Edwards have extensive helicopter experience. Until recently, the lowest-ranking enlisted member on the CV-22 floor was a staff sergeant.

The Air Force has plans to acquire 50 CV-22 Ospreys to replace its fleet of MH-53J Pave Low helicopters used to land and evacuate special operations forces from hostile areas.

The first production aircraft are slated to be delivered to the 58th Training Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., where they will be used for CV-22 advanced aircrew training.

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(color) In July, the Edwards Air Force Base test force will resume flight testing on two Air Force versions of the V-22 Osprey, tilt-rotor crafts.