Mount Isa had some rare and expensive birds of prey pass through town last week.
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Four US Air Force Osprey MV-22 tilt rotors landed at Mount Isa Airport on Wednesday June 20.
They were there to refuel on their way to Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton for the annual military exercises with the Australian Defence Force.
The Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing and short takeoff and landing capabilities.
It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.
The Australian-based Osprey is an occasional fuel-stop visitor to Mount Isa.
One was last seen in September 2017.
The United States Marine Corps began training for the Osprey in 2000 and fielded it in 2007.
The United States Air Force fielded their version in 2009.
The Osprey has been deployed in transportation and medevac operations over Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Kuwait.
A similar US military aircraft, the MV-22B Osprey, crashed off Shoalwater Bay in Rockhampton last year killing three Marines.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
