User:FightWithHonor/LATV-82 Condor

Overview
Designed by Brazilian aviation company Embraer, the Light Aerial Transportation Vehicle (LATV)-82 was the swan song of the tilt-rotor design in Human military and civil aviation engineering. Built to fulfill a UNSC requirement for a VTOL light transport, the fast and agile LATV-82 was adopted by a wide range of military and civilian buyers, becoming a familiar sight in the skies over scores of Human worlds for over five decades.

Design
Despite its somewhat archaic tiltrotor design, the LATV-82 Condor was, at the time of its inception, endowed with some of the most advanced aeronautic and electronic technology available to Mankind.

Structure
Utilized a series of unique strong yet lightweight composites, the Condor was endowed with a remarkably low empty weight, a fact which granted it speed and agility even at full loads seldom seen in aircraft of its breed. The aggressive maneuvering many pilots routinely subjected their Condors to, even at near supersonic speeds was a testament to the strength of the airframe and to the ample thought given to crew and passenger safety.

Safety Features
The aircrew resided in a state-of-the-art glass cockpit protected from bird-strikes, crashes, collisions, and hostile fire in a durable plastic-carbon honeycomb composite shell, capable of absorbing direct hits from a wide array of small arms. Inside the passenger bay, passengers were protected from crashes by a dense honeycomb of shock absorbent cells in the floor and walls. All on board were supplied with five-point harnesses, and shock-absorbing seats capable of absorbing most of the forces, a low-level crash would induce. In cases of severe emergency, the LATV-82 itself was equipped with an emergency parachute and the aircrew had the option to utilize ejection seats. Although as later events showed, even these saftey measures were not enough to save the lives of some Condor passengers and crew.

Flight Profile
As a tilt-rotor the wings, engines and propellers of the Condor had independently adjustable angles of attack from the rest of the aircraft, allowing the thrust profile of the Condor to be altered, giving it the ability to achieve both vertical and horizontal flight. This unusual design brought about a series of unique engineering challenges, but it allowed the Condor to encompass the forward flight of airplanes and the vertical flight of the long-obsolete helicopters.

In addition to the lift provided by the wings, the graceful curved fuselage of the Condor also bolstered the flight capability and efficiency of the aircraft, serving as a lifting body when the Condor was in high-speed forward flight.

Cockpit
The Condor's flight crew enjoyed excellent visibility through the large canopy, and comprehensive flight data from an array of screens and panels scattered across the instrument panel gave them a reservoir of real-time information vital for flying of such a complex aircraft

A radar-based system which projected a simulated view out the canopy even in the worst visibility was installed in some SAR (Search and Rescue) models, but it did not see widespread service due to cost and technical difficulties, much to the chagrin of Condor aircrews.

Drawbacks
However, the Condor was vulnerable during the transition from vertical to horizontal flight, and the Condor frequently stalled while attempting this maneuver. Many pilots also discovered that hovering was risky when fully loaded, resulting in many operators flying the Condor more as a STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) than a true VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing).

Although endowed with an excellent navigational RADAR system, the Condor was known to have difficulty in rough weather and low-visibility situations. The electronic systems of early production variants occasionally became blinded by thick snow and wind, and were the cause of multiple Condor crashes on the frozen world of Blizzard in 2506. These problems were rectified with later models, but white, black, and brownout conditions still caused inordinate trouble for aircrews, largely due to the good visibility the large canopy of the Condor usually offered and the ensuing reliance of pilots upon it, a fact which made pilots dangerously unfamiliar with instrument flying.

Given its vacuum intolerant hull, and air-breathing engines, the Condor was unable to achieve the space flight of craft like the Pelican, a short-coming that was a major factor in its eventual replacement by the latter craft.

History
In addition to the large sales to the military, Embraer enjoyed success with the Condor in the civilian sector, selling models to wealthy businessmen, police and fire departments, hospitals, TV stations, airlines, and construction companies. It was in these varied roles that the Condor enjoyed along and successful service history.

But a series of crashes involving the Condor lead to the grounding of all units so that the airworthiness of the surviving craft could be determined and a formal investigation could be conducted by military and civilian personnel.

The ensuing investigation highlighted the advanced age of this craft. Structural fatigue in varying degrees of severity was present in in 92% of the Condor fleet, and inspectors judged that only 5% of the unaffected remainder met the demanding regulations established by the UNSC Navy and Air Force.

the investigators recommended the Condor's retirement. Long frustrated by the Condor's limited carrying capacity and inability to travel in space, UNSC procurement officers were happy to oblige, and by 2510 the Condor was being phased out in favor of the vastly more capable Pelican.

however, several of the more final production lot were retained even after the introduction of the Pelican as pilot trainers, transports, and electronic warfare aircraft.

The remaining craft in UNSC service were either scrapped or sold to the private sector, where they saw service as commuter, search-and-rescue, police, corporate transport, and medevac aircraft. However, a second wave of fatal crashes, one involving a prominent UN delegate, lead to the Condor being retired once and for all, and Embraer quietly retiring from the aviation business.

Operators
The following organizations operate or have at one point operated the LATV-82 Condor


 * UNSC Navy
 * UNSC Marine Corps
 * UNSC Air Force
 * UNSC Army
 * New Ashpoint Law Enforcement Division

List of Embraer LATV-82 Condor crashes
Terra Nova 2502 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Earth 2502 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Earth 2503 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Reach 2505 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Mars 2505 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Harvest 2506 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Blizzard 2506 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Earth 2507 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Argus XII 2507 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Memorial 2507 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary:

Earth 2508 Location: Date: Cause of accident: Number aboard Condor at time of crash: Fatalities: Injured: Summary: