O-2 Skymaster
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| O-2 Skymaster | |
|---|---|
 An O-2 Skymaster |
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| Type | Observation aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Cessna |
| Maiden flight | January 1967 |
| Primary users | United States Air Force Vietnam Air Force Royal Thai Air Force Rhodesian Air Force |
| Developed from | Cessna Skymaster |
The O-2 Skymaster (also known as the "Oscar Deuce" or "The Duck") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster. The United States Air Force commissioned Cessna to build a military variant to replace the O-1 Bird Dog in 1966.
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[edit] Design and development
As with the civilian version, the Skymaster was a low cost twin-engine piston powered aircraft, with one engine in the nose of the aircraft and a second engine in the rear of the fuselage. The "push-me pull-you" arrangement meant a simpler one-engine operating procedure compared to the common low-wing mounting of most twin engine light planes, and also allowed for a high wing, that was judged to be useful for clear observation below and behind the aircraft. The Skymaster would eventually be replaced in the forward air control (FAC) mission by the OV-10 Bronco and the A-37 Dragonfly, and those aircraft would be replaced, in turn, by the A-10 Thunderbolt II.[citation needed]
The first O-2 flew in January 1967 and the plane went into production shortly thereafter, with the USAF taking delivery in March 1967. A total of 532 O-2s were built in two variants for the USAF by 1970. The O-2A served as a FAC aircraft, while the O-2B was equipped with loudspeakers and a leaflet dispenser for use in the psychological operations (PSYOPS) role. Several USAF O-2 aircraft were later transferred to and operated by the former VNAF South Vietnamese Air Force.[citation needed]
Following the Vietnam War, the O-2 continued to operate with both U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard units well into the late 1980s. Several former USAF O-2A airframes were also transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1983 for use as "range controllers" with Attack Squadron ONE TWENTY-TWO (VA-122), the Pacific Fleet Replacement Squadron for the A-7 Corsair II at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. These same aircraft were later transferred to Strike Fighter Squadron ONE TWENTY-FIVE (VFA-125), the F/A-18 Hornet FRS at NAS Lemoore in 1986 for use in the same range control role. The Navy O-2s remained in this role until September 1990, when they were replaced by T-34C Turbo Mentor aircraft transferred from the Naval Air Training Command. Some of the Navy O-2A aircraft were retired, while others were transferred to the U.S. Army.[citation needed]
O-2As originally entered the U.S. Army's inventory in 1967 and were augmented by the 1990 aircraft transfer from the U.S. Navy. Today, two O-2A are all that remain, flying from Laguna Army Airfield, Arizona as part of testing programs carried out by the Yuma Proving Ground. They are the only O-2A aircraft still in active U.S. military service.[citation needed]
[edit] Operational history
A total of 178 USAF 0-2 Skymasters were lost in the Vietnam War, to all causes.[1]
[edit] Civilian use
[edit] CAL FIRE
In the mid 1970s, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CAL FIRE, found that the contractor-owned air attack aircraft, mostly single-engine Cessna 182s and Cessna 210s, did not provide the airspeed and safety needed for the department's new air tanker program. In 1974, Senior Air Operations Officer, Cotton Mason, inspected 40 USAF O-2s at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The best 20 were selected and shipped to Fresno, California. These aircraft had been FAC aircraft in Vietnam and were shipped back to the United States in containers, and were disassembled and on pallets when they arrived at Fresno. A crew of California Conservation Corps (CCC) members under the supervision of a CDF Battalion Chief who was an FAA Certificated Mechanic with Inspection Authorization (IA), reassembled the aircraft. They were placed in service in 1976, and successfully served CALFIRE for more than 20 years, until replaced by a fleet of OV-10 Broncos.[2]
[edit] Variants
- O-2A
- Version designed for use in forward air control missions, features ordnance hard points underneath the wings to hold rockets, gun pods or flares.
- O-2B
- Version designed for psychological warfare, and was equipped with loudspeakers and a leaflet dispenser, but otherwise carried no weapons. Sometimes referred to as the "B.S. Bomber".[citation needed]
- Reims Cessna 337
- Civilian aircraft rebuilt in Rhodesia to the standard close to original O-2A aircraft.
[edit] Operators
- United States Air Force
- United States Navy
- United States Army
- California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
- Zimbabwe Air Force operates ex-Rhodesian Air Force aircraft.
[edit] Specifications (O-2)
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 - pilot and observer
- Length: 29.75 ft (9.07 m)
- Wingspan: 38.17 ft (11.63 m)
- Height: 9.17 ft (2.79 m)
- Wing area: 202.5 ft² (18.8 m²)
- Empty weight: 2,848 lb (1,292 kg)
- Loaded weight: 5,400 lb (2,448 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Continental IO-360C six-cylinder flat engines, 210 hp (157 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 200 mph (322 km/h)
- Range: 1,325 mi (2,132 km) combat
- Service ceiling 18,000 ft (5,490 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,180 ft/min (6 m/s)
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
[edit] References
- ^ Hobson, Chris. Vietnam Air Losses, USAF/USN/USMC/ Fixed-Wing Southeast Asia 1961-1973. 2001. ISBN 1-8578-011-56
- ^ This section contains public domain material taken from "CDF Aviation Management History", CDF official website, retrieved August 23, 2007
[edit] External links
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