Bell V-22 Osprey (16-6739)

I was around 50 to 60 feet away as they stopped next to me, waited momentarily for instructions from the tower to line up and wait, and then were cleared to take off. AWESOME!!

Great shot Gary! Must be quite an unusual sound up close....

And, Dave, I had left my ear protection in my photo bag (safely secured away from my position next to Charlie) so it was rather LOUD with all those monster props (and dang "breezy" too ... lol).

Gary- I use the Caboflex ear plugs with a band, they are great and when they are not in your ears they just hang around your neck. Great for summer.

https://www.earplugstore.com/caboflex.html

Beautiful Photo Gary..........
Can't get much closer than that to those big Props / Rotors whatever.

Fantastic action Pic.

Beautiful! Just the right amount of 'prop blur'.

Must be a west coast Osprey, oil running down the left side. West coast squadrons aren’t as meticulous as east coast marine squadrons with their maintenance.

Ken & Don ... Many thanx, guys. Very much appreciate the Comments.
ATTN: Don ... I've been trying to reconnect. My computer was OOA and when I finally got an expert to straighten it out, my e/mail addy list was gone. I've got all addys back (except two - you and Uwe) and I've added three new recipients, and I've been sending far better pics to them (pics that won't be appearing here). Last time I heard from you was when I sent the pic of "Maverick" (T. C.) landing at Fallon in the Top Gun Hornet during filming of the sequel. Nothing from you since then and the e/ms I sent bounced. I need you to simply send an e/mail saying one or two words so I can reestablish with you. The pics I'm sharing are better than any of these. Pls send to [email protected] and I'll reply from the "other" e/m addy I use for all recipients on the list.
Mark D >>> I don't know anything about how meticulously the VMM-161 Grayhawks perform their maintenance when they are home at Miramar, but I CAN tell you how unbelieveably intensely they are practicing hign altitude mountain warfare with the ground force Marines who are currently undergoing seven hellish weeks of tremendously demanding training at the Marine Corps' Mountain Warfare Training Center about 100 miles south of Reno. The elevation of the MWTC base runs from 6,700 feet (over a mile high) to 12,000 feet (over two miles high) and while there the Marines sleep and eat in tents while they learn how to scale sheer rock walls, camp in thin-air environments, and survive high mountain warfare -- and the Ospreys and helicopters the USMC sends there are all participating for double-digit hours every day for seven weeks. I've never had to undergo the training those Marines endure, but from all the conversations I've had with bearded, dirty, and totally exhausted Marines who are passing thru RNO while they are gratefully heading back home after their seven week visit to the MWTC, I can say that I truly doubt whether the crews of those Ospreys and copters are obsessed with spitshining the military metal aircraft they are flying during those weeks. But here is what I'll do. I'll keep a close eye peeled to watch to see if any east coast Osprey squadrons ever show up out here to do a bit of training for seven weeks at the MWTC. And if I ever see an east coast Osprey squadron, I'll wait for three or four weeks or so and then snap pics of their V22s. Then we can see just how much meticulous effort they are devoting AFTER each 16-18 hour day of training to keeping their Ospreys spotless. My prediction - their Ospreys won't look any prettier than this one - and they won't give a da_n how their Ospreys look; all they'll be concerned about is if they will stay in the air. (Not sure if you can tell - but my admiration for every Marine who has undergone, or who is undergoing, training up there knows no bounds. Marines ROCK!!)

I was directly involved in the development and testing of Tiltrotor 609 at NASA Ames, complex machine and we often wondered if the military was going to be able to keep such a complex aircraft flying, but they are doing it! Things didn't go well when we switched to carbon blades.

Really cool shot of a unique machine! Thanks for putting it out for us to see.