I did see mention of that in the headlines, now that you bring it up. With the F-35B in service, there had been "warning." I also recall reading a headline that it was coming up. While the CMV-22 has certainly been in service, and the predicted successor for a while, I did not see the same "headlines in passing" noting it was near. So, this one surprised me more. And the "last trap" headline had me think it had been fully retired. Turns out I have now seen that warning headline, lol. It's on its way out.

I am an old man. Old men get to watch the world they knew fade away. They also get to see the replacements. Those seldom meet with approval, but since "everything old is new again," I'm sure that nothing has really fundamentally changed. "It's all different," but that doesn't automatically equate to bad, or even especially novel. Still, it "ain't as good as we had it," (according to our nostalgic memories) so it will always struggle for our approval. And this is the origins of the crabby old man stereotype. I am an old man. Bah!

Excellent photos! Thank you.