(Repeat Vid...but I'm excited by this airplane!) Bell V-280 Valor – First Year of Flight

This is a repeat vid but I'm excited by this airplane!  I'm really beginning to wonder if we finally cracked the code on tilt rotors and will get prop plane performance in flight along with the ability to land vertically.  Remember another of my old favorites the XC-142A?



It also seemed like a winner but supposedly vibrations were too severe and I'm guessing that a bit of reluctance to embrace the new tech also played a role.

The V-280 APPEARS to be the winner we've been waiting for.  Experience from the  V-22, plus advances in the tech, a new approach to tilt rotors and a new appreciation for the needs of modern military forces might mean we can finally embrace the tech and have our competitors struggling to catch up.

The Army is trying to slow walk this thing.  I get it.  Budgets are tight but SOCOM and it's various air arms along with a smattering of them with in the conventional forces, a big buy from DHS and other federal agencies could help prevent this thing from slipping away.

In my opinion SOCOM is the key.

Where they lead others will follow.  As much as I hate to admit it (cause the USMC was once that leader) they need to keep this tech alive by buying a couple dozen, if not more. The applications in Africa alone are mind boggling and it could LITERALLY save lives if its just used in the Medivac role.