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Description
| Manufacturer: | Cessna |
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| Base model: | L-19 | ||
| Designation: | L-19 | ||
| Version: | A | ||
| Nickname: | Bird Dog | ||
| Equivalent to: | O-1A O1AO-1A OE-1 OE1OE-1 | ||
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | ||
| Designation Period: | 1942-1962 | ||
| Basic role: | Liaison | ||
| Crew: | Pilot & Observer | ||
| See Also: |
Specifications
| Length: | 25' 9" | 7.8 m | |
| Height: | 7' 6" | 2.2 m | |
| Wingspan: | 36' | 10.9 m | |
| Empty Weight: | 1,400 lb | 634 kg | |
| Max Weight: | 2,200 lb | 997 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Continental O-470-11 | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 213 | ||
Performance
| Range: | 840 miles | 1,352 km | |
| Max Speed: | 146 mph | 235 km/h | 127 kt |
| Ceiling: | 21,300 ft | 6,491 m | |
Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| Museum of Aviation | Warner Robins AFB | Georgia |
| National Museum of Naval Aviation | NAS Pensacola | Florida |
O-1A on display
Museum of Aviation | National Museum of Naval Aviation |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Cliff , NE | Harry: As a fellow O-1 Birddog pilot with you in Vietnam, I seem to remember another case where you flew your (or should I say the squadron commander's personal O-1) at zero airspeed! Combat Damage!!!!! :D:D 12/01/2008 @ 08:20 [ref: 23172] |
| Harry Brodock , CA | To Bill Rugg.
My statement was that I flew the O-1 at zero indicated airspeed, about 20 knots True. Because the O-1 was a tail-dragger, when it set on the ramp, the pitot tube pointed upwards, and could get rain into the airspeed system. They put a little flapper valve over it to keep the rainwater out, and on takeoff, when you got above 20 knots, the flapper woould open and you would start getting airspeed readings. At 3000 AGL, you could put down half-flaps, and slow the bird down, keeping power on, until the flapper would close at about 20 knots, giving you zero indicated airspeed. You could carefully do slow turns, and maintain altitude without a problem. Using that technique, winds were down the runway at about 20 knots at a little base called Lai Khe. I made a landing with a roll-out of less than 20 feet. 08/19/2008 @ 14:26 [ref: 22498] |
| Bill Rugg Vancouver,, WA | I read a note from Harry Brodock, saying that he flew the BirdDog at zero air speed in Viet-Nam. How did Mr. Brodock log that zero airspeed operation?
I was a commercial pilot who became an Army Aviator, and I learned to fly the L19 BirdDog the Army way at Fort Rucker, Alabama in 1964. However, whenever the the aircraft appraoched zero indicated airspeed, it wanted to pitch over to the left in a stall. That seemed to be normal for an airplane to stall at ZERO airspeed. I too flew the BirdDog in Viet-Nam, but down LOW on the trees looking for bad guys or marking targets for tactical aircraft, not up high above 1,000 AGL feet as the Air Force flew. Sorry Mr. Brodock, you can BS some of the people some of the time, but you cannopt BS all of the people, all of the time! 06/27/2008 @ 11:42 [ref: 21698] |
| Harry Brodock , CA | On one of my tours to VietNam, I put in 100 missions in the O-1A. The Birddog, because of its design, could fly at zero indicated airspeed (about 20 knots true). A great FAC aircraft, but cruising at 60 to 70 knots did not let you get out of the way of ground-fire terribly fast. The VC and the NVA really did not like to get our attention. 11/30/2007 @ 20:21 [ref: 18743] |
| PAT LEGATE FORT WORTH, TX | MY FATHER FLEW THIS TYPE PLANE IN WW ll- I ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE. HE FLEW MOVIE STARS,KINGS,ETCX.... 06/21/2005 @ 08:01 [ref: 10531] |
| Bogdan ATAMAN Warsaw, OTH | Shame on you, poor boys !
Your photo is CURTISS O-1 A FALCON of 1926 !!! Boogey 05/24/2004 @ 10:32 [ref: 7468] |
Recent photos uploaded by our visitors
