Marine Corps' OSPREY helicopters maneuvering in front of my home...

...Saturday and today, 2 Ospreys have been training by landing atop the mountain that lies about 2 miles in front of my home. From my driveway, I can see them clearly landing on the edge of Santiago Mountain, which is itself about 20 miles inland from Camp Pendleton.

I've never seen these aircraft in person before; for an airplane junky like me, they are amazing. When they rotate from the horizontal VTOL mode to their airplane mode, they are the loudest aircraft I have ever heard. When they fly over the house in "airplane" mode they are much faster than Chinooks which fly the pattern a few times a month. But when they land on the mountain, they kick up enormous amounts of dirt. Huge clouds that can't help but blind anyone on the ground nearby -- I can see these huge plumes from 2 miles away! These aircraft are expected to replace the Viet-Nam-era Chinooks, and I can certainly see why...but I have to wonder if the speed and the lifting ability can overcome their obvious drawbacks in landing in un-improved areas in the field.

Any other aircraft geeks out there have details about how the Ospreys are being altered to overcome the dust-off drawbacks? I'm curious now that I've seen them in person!

 

Villa Army's got copters

 

I got nothing to add except there's been an air show 'round here all weekend, and the planes are loud.

 

That would be neat to see. I have C17s flying over me all day long. They fly over my house and my living room with the sunroof completely darkens. I thought it was surreal when I first moved here but now it's just background.

 

Given all the incidents they've had with them, I'm surprised they're still around - unless they've got all of those problems figured out.

I see Chinooks and Sea Kings (i.e., Marine One) on an occasional basis. They seem sufficiently maneuverable, but nothing to go crazy over. And I've spent a fair amount of time in and around Quantico, but never saw an Osprey.

 

My old house used to sit right under a route used by the Air Force. A group of three or so C-130s would fly over at 8 p.m. every night, usually flying southwest. You could set your watch by them.