One for Rottydaddy & One for Rifleman

[Willit Run]

O.K.

[beaky]

Thanks... and in case you've forgotten, here's my pic again:






Does that look like a fun plane, or what?

.."Boop-oop-ee-doop!"




I'm confused about the Aeronca reference- "Betty" is clearly a C120; even has the old Cessna logo on the tail. Is the "Bird Dog" an Aeronca?  ???

[Willit Run]

Sorry, I changed it.  I was looking up two N-numbers at the same time and put the wrong one with the picture!

[Jared]

looks like two pretty sweet airplanes to go low and slow

[Hagar]

I saw my first Bird Dog at Old Warden a few weeks ago. A 'new boy' on the warbird circuit. It's bigger than it looks & I was surprised at how noisy it is. This is the best shot I got of it.


Betty Boop gets around. Check this out.

[Willit Run]

Great shot of the Bird Dog and I like the rockets on it.  I guess that makes it a Mad Dog!!

 That Betty Boop sure gets around does'nt she!!!

[Rifleman]

I have to admit, that L-19 which Doug has posted is the same as all the ones I have ever seen......the Cessna 180 back end is entirely new to me. We have a few out here on the island and they all have the "round" back end also......
In fairness though, I don't profess to being the "be all-end all" of aircraft recognition.......the term "Bird Dog" may have been given to all A/C in that role, much the same as all "Grasshoppers" weren't the venerable J-3......some were in fact, Stinsons.......

[Willit Run]

O.K. after a little research on this I find that the Bird Dog at the NAS Wildwood Museum is the Cessna OE-2 version of the Bird Dog.  The sign next to the plane has OE-2 ( L-19 ).  The Version in Ken's and Doug's shots looks to be the OE-1A ( L-19 ).  I think the Bird Dog in my shot should not have the L-19 listed with the OE-2.

 Cessna OE-2 Bird Dog II


Cessna OE-1A ( L-19 ) Bird Dog

[beaky]

Great shot of the Bird Dog and I like the rockets on it.  I guess that makes it a Mad Dog!!

 That Betty Boop sure gets around does'nt she!!!

The rockets are most likely just for laying down colored smoke- these planes were used extensively for forward air control: they'd go into enemy territory low and slow, looking for SAM sites or whatever,  hit them with the smoke so the attack aircraft could more easily find them... then try to get the hell out of there as  fast as possible!!
 Very dangerous duty- sort of like approaching a hornet's nest naked, whacking it several times with a baseball bat, then slowly walking away...  The fighter jocks get all the glory, but these pilots were brave indeed.
I think a lot of Bird Dog FAC pilots used to sit on their helmets or flak jackets. during missions..  :-X

[Hagar]

[quote]Very dangerous duty- sort of like approaching a hornet's nest naked, whacking it several times with a baseball bat, then slowly walking away...

[beaky]

Brave indeed. It's hardly a stealth operation. From the racket that engine/prop makes you could hear it coming from miles away.

They would often use an old trick from the WWI recon days: chop the throttle and glide in from as far away as they could, usually sneaking over terrain, then make sure they were behind the treeline or a hill before they gunned it to get out of there. I'd imagine the range on those rockets was not very good, so they'd have to get close.

The Cessna 337 and, later, jets were also used for this purpose, but there's something about the guys who flew Bird Dogs (and Grasshoppers- just a Cub with military markings) into the teeth of the enemy that is very special. They got a taste of what the WWI recon pilots felt, sputtering along over enemy trenches full of guns in nothing more than a big kite with a pitiful engine on it.

Here's something interesting on the Bird Dog pilots :

http://www.immortalia.com/html/sounds/f ... turned.htm