The Hood helicopter looked as if it just lost power. I don't know if this would have been a factor, but it got very low on a sidehill. The ground effect would not have been even the way it might on a level spot.

It seems intuitive there would have been an uphill effect, less if any down hill effect, the compensation for which would have been in effect a turn. But then the craft would have been trying to hover in a bank.

It seemed to lose power and altitude without a pitch or bank except at the end, where the nose came down and it hit the ground. It lost altitude before that. And the entire maneuver was at about 10,100 feet, which is getting to the upper limits of the craft as configured for operations near sea level.

Helicopters were used a lot in Afghanistan. I know some took fire, many went in after bombing and with gunship support. I didn't see any reports as to missiles being used, am sure they would have if available.

No one wishes the Osprey better luck than I. I just think it's a neat idea. And, I'll bet it never gets close to where it's at because of the vulnerability.

It might, but only after all resistance is suppressed. An Osprey would be worth taking losses for if you were a bad guy.

I'll try to find what happened to Russian helicopters in Afghanistan. They too had gunships, support, and the books might have been wrong on the missiles getting them.

Arf