WITH WINGS SPREAD:  Airshow crowds at Luke AFB in Phoenix are dwarfed by the 38 foot rotors of the massive V-22 Osprey.   (PHOTO:  Nick Warren)

The V-22 Osprey is scheduled to be on display at the Great Minnesota Air Show.  Specifically, the USMC MV-22B. 

Here's what its maker, Boeing, has to say about this unique tilt-rotor aircraft.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is the first aircraft designed from the ground up to meet the needs of the Defense Department's four U.S. armed services. The tiltrotor aircraft takes off and lands like a helicopter. Once airborne, its engine nacelles can be rotated to convert the aircraft to a turboprop airplane capable of high-speed, high-altitude flight.

The V-22 Osprey provides unique capabilities offering:
-- increased speed because it's twice as fast as a helicopter.
-- much longer range resulting in greater mission versatility than a helicopter.
-- multi-mission capability: amphibious assault, combat support, long-range special ops infiltration and exfiltration, transport, search and rescue, medevac, and, in the future, tanker capability.

The V-22 Osprey aircraft:
-- can transport 24 combat troops, 20,000 pounds of internal or up to 15,000 pounds of external cargo using its medium lift and vertical takeoff and landing capabilities
-- meets U.S. Navy requirements for combat search and rescue, fleet logistics support, and special warfare support
-- matches the U.S. Special Operations Command's requirement for a high-speed, long-range, vertical lift aircraft
-- can be stored aboard an aircraft carrier or assault ship because the rotors can fold and the wings rotate
-- has air-to-air refueling capability, the cornerstone of the ability to self-deploy

Boeing is responsible for the fuselage and all subsystems, digital avionics, and fly-by-wire flight-control systems. Boeing partner Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., is responsible for the wing, transmissions, empennage, rotor systems and engine installation.

The V-22 provides a significant increase in operational range over the legacy systems it will replace and is the only vertical platform capable of rapid self-deployment to any theater of operation worldwide.