Warbird Information Exchange

There are a bunch of OV-10s being rebuilt by a company at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona for "some Latin American country". They are being rebuilt on behalf of Marsh Aviation and there are several hulks and/or dissasembled aircraft in storage at the field. I'm not sure if they are being re-engined or not but the rebuilt aircraft sport four blades rather than three. I wonder if they have any "parts" airframes that will be released to the civilian market?

Maybe I can shed a little light here. The NOGS worked very well. The gun (20mm) was slaved to the FLIR and operated by the backseat observer. It was very accurate and could take out targets beyond the noise of the aircraft. The target never knew they were there. There is onboard video of the aircraft working on the live fire range. VERY impressive. It did evolve into the D model. The gun was not funded in the upgrade but they did get the FLIR. The aircraft could still mount the 4 M-60s in the sponsons. They were also given the ability to carry an AIM -9 on the outboard pylon. There were many other changes, some good, some not so good. The Marines took a very simple aircraft and proceeded to make it a very complicated aircraft with the D mods.

The aircraft at Marsh are upgrades for Columbia. They are supposed to be uprating engines to the D spec and they are fitting new props. The prop/engine combination fitted to the D was not the most efficient. The prop originally fitted to the D is a composite prop that is no longer available. I suspect they are going with the 4 blade prop that is similar to the 4 blade that was on the YO that was lost in the fire at Yankee. I understand that they are also supposed to be modifying the sponsons to take .50 cal in place of the M-60s.

The German aircraft were strictly NON combat aircraft, they were not conversions, they were built as target tugs from the outset and carried a winch operator in back with a plexiglass bubble in place of the clamshell doors. A few were fitted with a jet pod similar to the C-119 mods. I don't think they lasted too long.

The State Dept is operating the last Ds at Patrick and down in Columbia as sprayers.

CDF has rebuilt A models for tanker leads, they have smoke systems, can fly 85-300+ knots.

There was one of the State Dept OV-10Ds at Sun 'n Fun this year. I'm away from most of my photos at the moment, but will see if I can dig out some shots when I get home at the end of next week.

Originalboxcar got the photo I was looking for! Sounds like it was a fairly effective gunship.

The A-37 that was at Reno I have seen for sale else where - they are asking a mint for it though - more than most folks feel a T-37 is worth. The Skyraider was also at Wendover for our show - Danny Summers is one of the nicest warbird owners out there and we were excited to have him come to the show.

Thanks!

Tom P.

OK, guys:

Regarding the OV-10, please note that they are being restored for ColOmbia (not ColUmbia), being one of the operators of the type (the Colombians also had three Argentinean Pucara aircraft).

I have read, but not seen any documentation, indicating that at least two examples of the OV-10 had been provided to El Salvador during the 1990s.

These two photos show a Department of State Air Wing's OV-10 (is it a modified "D"?) without the sponsons.

I am not 100% sure if the photo showing the OV-10 and the helicopters, is mine. I think it is, but I also suspect that it could have been shot by Mario Overall (www.laahs.com). I don't have my negatives handy to verify this.

Air BOHICA : ) was present for the Guatemalan Air Force's airshow and open house, Dec. 2001.





Last, but not least: There was a group based in New Mexico IIRC, named the 69th Aerial Squadron or a similar name, operating a SkyRaider, an A-37, UH-1H, etc., and available for air shows. Are these the same guys as the Cactus Air Force?


Saludos,


Tulio

_________________
Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

Sorry Tulio I know better. I think better than I type ! Now that's a scary thought !

The sponsons can be fitted in a matter of minutes, Stae removes them since they are for guns and external stores.

They have added a bunch of external armor as the pictures show. Apparently they are faced with small arms fire occasionally.

I believe the group you are referring to, Tulio, went defunct. I know one such group did because Rick Sharpe's Skyraider came from that collection.

Rick:

Armor is a must when operating south of the border...

The father of a good friend of mine, and pilot school classmate, died while crop dusting in the early 1980s; I never knew the official cause of the crash, but rumor had it, he was shot down while spraying poppy fields.

The DEA had one of their UH-1H shot several times, and there was also a mortar attack against the aircraft parked at La Aurora back in the late 1980s.

So, even if the Bronco is only surveying, the armor is I would say, mandatory.

Some of the Turbo Thrush, had .30cal MGs on the wings, and they flew escorted by a UH-1H acting as gunship.

A Bronco would be a neat airplane to own, and to fly, right? Nimble, relatively fast, and you can haul all the barbecue stuff and friends in the back : )


Saludos,


Tulio

_________________
Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

The State OV-10s are ALL sprayers. Here is my chance to make all of you US taxpayers cringe. The OV-10Ds are all Marine Corp surplus, sounds OK so far. The spraying equipment they are using was engineered for the OV-10 using taxpayer dollars BUT the design is proprietary to the company who developed it and WE ( US State Dept who paid for the development and construction of said equipment) are leasing it from the company who designed and built it for us !!!!

As for hauling your friends: The Dash 1 says 5 Southeast Asians may be carried or 3 Caucasians, with gear of course.

There are a pair of the ex-German OV-10s, on the UK CAR, at Duxford at the present time. They were ferried in some 2 or 3 years ago, and were intended to be operated on the airshow circuit. After being overhauled, and at least one fast-taxied ready for flight, the project seemed to stall and the airframes have not yet flown, sadly.

One of the ex-German aircraft, now registered F-AZKM and based at Montelimar in France, was also operated on the European airshow circuit for a while, although I've not heard any reports of it for a year or two.

Anyone have any insight on the legalities governing the acquisition/restoration/operation of this type in the US? How about restrictions on importation? Any clues as to how many of these potential civilian warbirds are still serving in Central America & Europe?

I recall it being mentioned that the OV-10's now in service with the National Forestry Service will be restricted from sale to civilians once they are retired. The German Broncos are obviously going to be legal to import and operate (possible due to their "tug" status?). I'd love to know how many could potentially come out of there.

Fighter performance with the added bonus of abundant cargo space makes it an extremely handy toy to parade around the warbird circuit IMO.

_________________
Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

What kind of fighter are you thinking of that flies like the OV-10?

Rob, you're not going to like the answer to your question.

The official stance is that the OV-10 is under the same restrictions for civilian release purposes as the F-4 or any other tactical aircraft.

I made some inquiries once upon a time and the answer I got was it's tactical , it's turbine, and there are no civilian counterparts, therefore it will NOT be released for flight purposes.

Arguments were made that it is an observation short takeoff (OV) just like the OV-1. I was told that because it had a secondary role as a COIN aircraft and could carry guns and munitions that it couldn't be released.

The CDF aircraft are still owned by the US Govt. They are loaned to CDF by the US Forest Service. They have been rebuilt and stripped of any and all offensive capabilities but I can almost guarantee that the DEMIL will happen when they are through with them. Not because it's necessary but because they can.

I believe the Feds have changed their stance. The FAC Museum in Ft Worth was aquired 2 OV-10's from out west. One is an Airforce airframe and the other is USMC. Both are SE Asia vets and will be restored to airworthy condition and flown. There are details on the website above.
**My dad flew the USMC airframe while he was in VMO-2 in DaNang and is keeping me posted on her progress.**
They are preping the airframes for shipment from California to Texas as we speak...

I thought that an OV-10 flew at Mt. Comfort (Indianapolis) Air Show a couple of years back. Don't remember if it was flown by civilians or military, and I'm not certain if it flew or was static. Guess I'm going senile.
PJ