O-2 Skymaster

infobox Aircraft
name= O-2 Skymaster


caption= An O-2 Skymaster
type= Observation aircraft
manufacturer= Cessna
first flight= January 1967
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user = United States Air Force
more users = Vietnam Air Force Royal Thai Air Force Rhodesian Air Force
produced=
number built=513
unit cost=
developed from= Cessna Skymaster
variants with their own articles=

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.

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. [http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=304 Fact Sheets : Cessna O-2A Skymaster : Cessna O-2A Skymaster ] ]

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.

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. Six former USAF O-2A airframes were also transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1983 for use as "range controllers" with Attack Squadron 122 (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 125 (VFA-125), the F/A-18 Hornet FRS at NAS Lemoore in 1986 for use in the same range control role.Fact|date=September 2008

The six Navy O-2A's remained in this role until September 1990, when they were replaced by T-34C Turbo Mentor aircraft transferred from the Naval Air Training Command. Four of the Navy O-2A aircraft were retired and two of these became civil registered in October 1991. These two aircraft were flown in U.S. airshows performing a "Viet Nam Warbird COIN/FAC" routine during the 1990's. The routine debuted at the "Wings Over Houston" (Texas) airshow in October 1991.Fact|date=September 2008

Of the six USN aircraft mentioned above, two had been transferred to the U.S. Army in late 1990.The United States Military Aviation Directory, AIRTime Publishing, Norwalk, CT, c2000, p. 231, ISBN 1-880588-29-3] O-2A's had 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's 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.

Operational history

A total of 178 USAF 0-2 Skymasters were lost in the Vietnam War, to all causes. [Hobson, Chris. "Vietnam Air Losses, USAF/USN/USMC/ Fixed-Wing Southeast Asia 1961-1973". 2001. ISBN 1-8578-011-56]

Civilian use

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. [http://www.fire.ca.gov/about_aviation_history.php This section contains public domain material taken from "CDF Aviation Management History", CDF official website, retrieved August 23 2007] ]

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. 513 were delivered.;O-2B:Version designed for psychological warfare, and was equipped with loudspeakers and a leaflet dispenser, but otherwise carried no weapons. Thirty-one former civil 337s were converted to O-2Bs. [Andrade 1979, page 140] ;Reims Cessna 337:Civilian aircraft rebuilt in Rhodesia to the standard close to original O-2A aircraft.

Operators

;BOT
*Botswana Air Force;CHI
*Chilean Air Force
*Chilean Navy;COL
*Colombian Air Force;SLV
*El Salvador Air Force;flag|Portugal
*Portuguese Air Force;flag|Rhodesia
*Rhodesian Air Force;flag|South Vietnam
*Vietnam Air Force;SRI
*Sri Lanka Air Force;THA
*Royal Thai Navy;USA
*United States Air Force
*United States Navy
*United States Army
*California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection;ZIM
*Zimbabwe Air Force operates ex-Rhodesian Air Force aircraft.

pecifications (O-2)

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=2 - pilot and observer
length main=29.75 ft
length alt=9.07 m
span main=38.17 ft
span alt=11.63 m
height main=9.17 ft
height alt=2.79 m
area main=202.5 ft²
area alt=18.8 m²
empty weight main=2,848 lb
empty weight alt=1,292 kg
loaded weight main=5,400 lb
loaded weight alt=2,448 kg
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
engine (prop)=Continental IO-360C
type of prop=six-cylinder flat engines
number of props=2
power main=210 hp
power alt=157 kW
max speed main=200 mph
max speed alt=322 km/h
range main=1,325 mi
range alt=2,132 km
range more=combat
ceiling main=18,000 ft
ceiling alt=5,490 m
climb rate main=1,180 ft/min
climb rate alt=6 m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
armament=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Cessna Skymaster
* AVE Mizar
similar aircraft=
* Adam A500
sequence=
lists=
see also=

References

Bibliography

*

External links

* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/o-2.htm Global Security: O-2 Skymaster]