Bad pressure switches discovered in Ospreys

The Pentagon has ordered 458 of the $70 million craft, most of which will go the Marines Corps. The 50 destined for the Air Force will cost $89 million each because of enhanced electronic combat features.

JACKSONVILLE. N.C. — The military’s fleet of V-22 Ospreys may be placed on an inspect-before-flight notice due to a faulty switch, a Naval Air Systems Command spokesman said...

Some pressure switches in the aircraft’s swash plate actuators, which make the prop-rotors angle when they spin in helicopter mode, are bad, he said. The switch in question lets the Osprey’s computer system know how much hydraulic pressure is in the actuator...

Each Osprey has six swash plate actuators, three on each side. And each actuator has two pressure switches. Actuators have serial numbers; officials know that 86 actuators have the faulty switches.

Milliman did not know Thursday morning how many aircraft contain the bad switches.

Read the rest at Marine Corps Times

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