tiltrotor

Clinton and Gore said they would build the Osprey if elected because the tiltrotor was an example of “dual-use technology”—items that could be made for the military but converted to civilian use.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Wernicke was proud that he and Bob Lichten were two of the first to see that the tiltrotor was the only true way to make such a dream machine.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

The point to emphasize was that the tiltrotor was a “new concept in aviation,” a “national asset” with “commercial fallout.”

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

A month later, the JVX program office invited representatives from twenty-five companies to a briefing where program officials told them the tiltrotor was the “favored technology,” the only one able to meet the requirements of all four armed services.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

A tiltrotor was a helicopter-airplane hybrid, so it combined elements of both.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

The tiltrotor was a hybrid, designed to combine the vertical agility of a helicopter with the speed of an airplane.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

In the early 1980s, while he was at Martin Marietta, Dunn had written a paper on his arguments against the Osprey and given it to congressional aides, hoping to persuade key lawmakers that building the tiltrotor was a mistake.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Dunn was also just as sure the Osprey was a death trap as his old friend Dick Spivey was that the tiltrotor was the dream machine.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

He had no doubt the tiltrotor was a dream machine, not just for the Marines but for civilian aviation, too.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Back then, for a company that was churning out thousands of combat helicopters for the Army and Marines to fly in Vietnam, the tiltrotor was a sideshow, an indulgence, a long-shot bet on the future at best.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010