What you get is both downsides rather than both advantages. It can’t fly fast enough for fixed wing, nor can it fly slow enough for rotary, meaning it can’t effectively be escorted. It doesn’t have the range or speed of fixed wing, nor can’t it hover as well as a helicopter. It requires special logistical channels. It’s finicky to fly and high maintenance. Because the rotors are so heavily loaded it creates significant rotor wash and it’s especially susceptible to vortex ring state. It can’t glide like fixed wing and can’t autorotate like rotary for a power loss in flight.

It’s garbage. The idea of using these for rescue or VIP transport is laughable.

I’m kinda shocked they’re still using them. There have seemingly been a lot of crashes over the past few years.

I was under the impression most of the crashes were early on and after they fixed issues and improved it the crash rate went to more like other aircraft. I know the marines really liked them for some reason and fought to keep the project going because at one point it was close to being canceled. Looking it up though I can’t tell.

I hate how these things are such deathtraps.

I live near a military base, and the base runs a lot of nighttime training over the forest my house is in. It is not unusual for Osprey to literally hover over my house. They get so close that the whole house shakes, and the sound from them is so loud it covers up a normal-volumed conversation. It doesn’t bother us, but every time it happens I think of all the crashes 😬

We can also hear the base when it has bombing practice! Sitting on our deck and hearing bombs going off is a surreal experience. I can’t imagine what it’s like to hear those in an actual war situation.