The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey
A feast for the more advanced student of military and current affairs, this is the story of the star-crossed V-22 Osprey. The hope of the U.S. Marines for preserving their vertical envelopment capability, that fact alone made the Osprey the target for the marines’ enemies in the Pentagon. It also attracted mountains of negative publicity for its accident record as the developers struggled to perfect an entirely new system for combining vertical takeoff and landing capabilities with high speed in horizontal flight. This involved technological breakthroughs—and also a number of fatal crashes. Still demanding careful maintenance, the Osprey is now in service in Iraq and has the potential to serve not only the marines but also, in time, civilian short-haul airlines. --Roland Green