Thanks Joe - nice pics! I used to fly around with them in the pattern up at Turner Field, in Quantico back in 2005. They're awesome to gawk at. They never struck me as particularly more loud than 53E's. I hear that the USAF is going to arm their CV-22s. I hope the USMC follows suit - a ramp mounted 240 just doesn't seem to cut it for me.
Their uitility is plainly evident when you compare them to the CH-46E Sea Knights. Their ability to launch air assualt missions, in terms of time, distance, and ships needed is unmatched by helos. I see a lot of people objecting to the MV-22, pointing to the CH-46's stats - yet that ship does not have the capabilities that it used to have to do weight gain, as my buddies that fly them have said. There have been several operationally successful trials aboard LHA/D's. What was your MOS, Micdrow?