ROLLED out in May and scheduled to make its first flight in November is the V‐22 Osprey tiltrotor multi‐mission aircraft that has been ordered by four United States Services. Technological advances incorporated in the V‐22 had their beginnings in the XV‐3 in the mid 1950's which proved the feasibility of the tiltrotor concept and in the 1970's the XV‐15 programme explored and confirmed its validity. The latter aircraft which were jointly sponsored by NASA and the Army and Navy, have completed 600 hours of test flying and have demonstrated the suitability of this configuration for all kinds of military purposes.