Tiltrotor

The funky looking Osprey is a tiltrotor military aircraft which has the functionality of both a conventional helicopter and a propellor-powered plane, making it adaptable to a wide variety of combat scenarios.

New River also serves as the East Coast’s only rotary wing and tiltrotor Air Station, with approximately 8,000 Marines, Sailors and civilian employees.

The OSD and Navy administration were against the tiltrotor project, but congressional pressure eventually proved persuasive.

The team of Bell Helicopter and Boeing Helicopters was awarded a development contract in 1983 for the tiltrotor aircraft.

The V-22 first flew in 1989, and began flight testing and design alterations; the complexity and difficulties of being the first tiltrotor intended for military service in the world led to many years of development.