VMM-365's last flight of 2011

Photo By Martin Egnash | Marines from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365 land MV-22B Ospreys at Marine Corps Air Station New River, Dec. 29. This concludes the last flight of the year for the Marines flying eight Ospreys.  

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, NC, UNITED STATES

01.23.2012

Story by Lance Cpl. Martin Egnash 

Marine Corps Installations East       

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. - Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365’s last flight of 2011 was also their last flight before their deployment to Afghanistan.

Before the squadron could relieve Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 in early January, they tested out every aircraft to make sure they were up to standard, Dec. 29.

“When we rotate with another Osprey squadron, they come back and use our aircraft, and we go there and use theirs,” said Capt. David G. Batcheler, VMM-365 pilot training officer. “It would cost too much money to transport each squadron’s aircraft back and forth.”

Because of that switch, each squadron needs to take care of its aircraft to ensure the other squadron receives the best equipment possible.

“This flight tests eight different aircraft,” said Capt. Mark A. Stefanski, VMM-365 co-pilot. “We take them up and make sure they are in perfectly-good working order.”

Stefanski explained that Ospreys that haven’t flown in 30 days or more need to go through more testing before they can be used. Because of this check-flight, VMM-162 will be able to take out the aircraft and resume training as soon as possible.

“We do these flights so they don’t have to,” said Stefanski. “We don’t want to pawn our workload onto them.”

This saves each squadron valuable time they can use to maintain unit readiness and complete the mission.

“I don’t mind using their aircraft,” said Batcheler. “They’re all built to the same standard, and they take good care of their equipment. This enables us to use the aircraft and do what we need to do to complete the mission as soon as we arrive.”

During the flight, 14 pilots and 14 crew chiefs took out eight MV-22B Ospreys and flew toward Wilmington, N.C. The formation then turned around to do an eight aircraft landing at Landing Zone Falcon on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. En route back, the Marines flew in a right echelon formation, where each Osprey follows slightly to the right of the aircraft in front of it, making a diagonal line in the sky.

“It’s always more challenging when you have multiple aircraft in the sky,” said Stefanski. “We usually train with one or two aircraft, so having eight flying together is good training for all the Marines involved.”

Now that all their aircraft are tested and ready to go, VMM-365 is fully prepared to replace VMM-162 and achieve mission success in Afghanistan.

• Date Taken: 01.23.2012
• Date Posted: 01.23.2012 09:10
• Story ID: 82703
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, NC, US