CV-22: Future of special operations, today Published Sept. 22, 2006 By Jamie Haig 16 SOW Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla -- In August, the 8th Special Operations Squadron said goodbye to the MC-130E Talon I and in November will christen its new aircraft, the CV-22B Osprey, welcoming it to a new chapter in a book of one of the Air Force's oldest squadrons. Housed in the 20th SOS building, several of the remaining members of the 8th SOS are getting set up for the arrival of the aircraft. Capt. Paul Alexander, 8th SOS, is a former Army special operations helicopter pilot and PAVE LOW pilot, crossed into the blue in 1999 in hopes of flying the CV-22. He will be training the 8th SOS in-coming pilots who will make up the new squadron. "The CV-22 has only been known for its bad history," said Captain Alexander, 8th SOS. "This aircraft has come a long way. It has gone through a major safety redesign and is more technologically advanced than earlier versions. "This is not a replacement for the MH-53 PAVE LOW, its true the PAVE is being phased out, but these are two different machines," he said. Captain Alexander explained that the CV-22 has a short take off and landing capability and more advanced radar system and defensive systems. There are a lot of rumors about the CV-22 that Captain Alexander would like to dispel. "It's been said that it can't support fast-roping," said the captain. "We've brought other customers (other personnel who will be using the plane on missions) out to Kirkland and demonstrated that it can be done - safely." Fast-roping is a technique used by Airmen and other servicemembers to exit from an aircraft quickly using a rope. Tech. Sgt. Chad Ackman, an 8th SOS flight engineer, was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and has spent the last three years performing operational testing on the CV-22. He personally has overseen many successful fast-roping tests. "Once they (the customers) do it, they see it really does work," said Sergeant Ackman. Another argument of naysayer's of the CV-22 is that due to the combination tilt-rotor style, it's more difficult to maintain. "The technology is amazing," said Sergeant Ack-man. "The aircraft actually tells you ahead of time by warnings, cautions and advisories, of any impending problems. A lot of things would have to be ignored for awhile before something goes wrong." When the aircraft is powered up, and while the flight engineers are performing their inspections, the computers on board perform their built-in test. If anything is amiss, the computers will catch it. "We can be ready to fly in 25 minutes," Sergeant Ackman said. "If something is wrong, the computer will tell us what's wrong, down to the exact part and the location of that part." Captain Alexander said that after a flight, one of the maintenance crewmembers will hand the pilot a "maintenance brick" a small computer card that's inserted into a slot in the cockpit. The pilot downloads everything in a matter of minutes onto the brick. The information will tell the maintainer how the aircraft handled, its speeds, variables encountered, possible maintenance needs and more. "It's as maintenance intensive as a helicopter, but to a greater degree," said Captain Alexander. "The same crews that work on the PAVE LOW are already working or training to work on the CV- 22." The 8th SOS is looking forward to having four CV-22s on the tarmac at Hurlburt by this time next year, Both Captain Alexander and Sergeant Ackman feel that once the aircraft is here and Airmen have a chance to fly in it, they will agree it's the future of the Air Force. "Once people fly in the CV-22, all the rumors they've heard will disappear," said Captain Alex-ander. "It's a very different aircraft. We need to ask what it can do for us, not what it can't."