A US Air Force hybrid helicopter seen in Scotland

Here at my wee village in Scotland

On the peninsula where the USA 

flew their helicopter above us.

US Air Force hybrid helicopter

It is known as a V-22 Osprey

US Air Force and Marine Corps

It is a Bell Boeing - cost $70 million

It is a  futuristic-looking chopper is a multi-role combat aircraft which uses tiltrotor technology to combine the vertical performance of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft.

Four-hundred V-22s have been built since its introduction in the 1980s and each aircraft has both vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), and short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities.

Here was one of them this week in Kilcreggan,

Argyll. Scotland.

We could see it flying above our houses 

as it flew low over our area in Kilcreggan

on Thursday, July 2.

It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.

It was going about 250 knots

and flying at about 125 feet

right on the coastline,

right on the limits of what they are allowed to do.

It was impressive.

It has a very unique noise –

nothing else sounds like it.