O1-E Bird Dog

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:38 pm

Anyone have any ideas. I am thinking of getting one. I am a 450 hour pilot with 20 hours tail wheel. I have a former Red Baron pilot to that should be able to instruct me when he gets his rating.

Are they "difficult" to fly for a stroller pilot like me

Any maintainance issues. They would seem about as straight forward as any aircraft.

Our museum has 3 Hueys, 2 flyers and a parts bird. The flyers need the main mast AD and tail boom AD done, but otherwise are great. I'm thinking of getting the O1 as a trade/sale of the other aircraft.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:47 pm

oscardeuce wrote:Anyone have any ideas. I am thinking of getting one. I am a 450 hour pilot with 20 hours tail wheel. I have a former Red Baron pilot to that should be able to instruct me when he gets his rating.

Are they "difficult" to fly for a stroller pilot like me

Any maintainance issues. They would seem about as straight forward as any aircraft.

Our museum has 3 Hueys, 2 flyers and a parts bird. The flyers need the main mast AD and tail boom AD done, but otherwise are great. I'm thinking of getting the O1 as a trade/sale of the other aircraft.

If you can go for it they were flown by guys with a lot less hours than you. as with any plane its not just the cost of the gas, you gotta bank money for every hour flown to keep it in the air....unless you are rich of course.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:49 pm

I belong to a great group that has everything you need to know about Bird Dogs. Go to ibdaweb.com and you will find anything bird dog. Great basic airplane, not really tricky if you are a compentent tail dragger pilot.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:01 pm

Great little airplane! If you can find a good one you can afford go for it.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:07 pm

I have a bunch of friends that fly or flew the Bird Dogs for the Royal Canadian Air Cadet gliding operations and they LOVE(D) them.

One thing they did say is unlike a spa---- Cessna 172 (or similar), you have to concentrate 100% of the time you're in it. Making it onto the ground doesn't mean you're done flying it, until you've stopped. There are many vintage military videos about ground looping those things.

But, having never flown one myself, I cannot say whether they are any easier or harder to groundloop than any other taildragger.

After all that, every Bird Dog pilot I've talked to absolutely adores the machine.

Good luck in finding a good one, and fly safe!

Cheers,

David

Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:25 am

The airframe accepts, if I recall correctly, a Robertson STOL series 10 kit installation (172/180/182/185). That, of course is if you would like to leave the pattern almost vertically in a 15 kt. wind. Contact SIERRA in Tehas, they own the STC's now.
I understand they are pretty much a 'drive it with the rudder' flyer.

Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:31 am

I towed gliders with them years ago. Fun airplane. Very straightforward to fly and land with the added bonuses of great visibility and plenty of power. Generally a blast to fly.

It's hard to imagine needing a STOL kit for the thing, though. :lol:

Steve

Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:19 pm

Yeah really, I think that when you add a STOL kit on to a bird dog it ends up needing to be re-classified as a helicopter, or a VTOL.

-Dave

Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:01 pm

I was talking to the IBDA (?) president today who was parked next to our L-5 at Randolph. He said that they're very easy to fly, except for landings... He said that when the army got their first batch they wiped out a large percentage of them on landing accidents. Apparently the O-1s after that have this special anti-groundloop gear on them. He also said that they figure they loose about 3 aircraft a year to landing accidents. I guess if you can learn to land them well, and are careful with crosswinds, you should be fine.

Ryan

Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:47 pm

They're nice, but you can do better for a LOT less money in my opinion. You're probably looking at 75-130k for nothing more than an OD Cessna 170. Vastly overpriced for the number of airframes out there. Heck you could get a high-time T-6 for what some people want for a nice L-19 / OE-1 The only upside it a lot of the parts for them are available. If you want an afordable taildragger L-Bird, go L-5. I may be biased though.

Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:22 pm

me109me109 wrote:They're nice, but you can do better for a LOT less money in my opinion. You're probably looking at 75-130k for nothing more than an OD Cessna 170. Vastly overpriced for the number of airframes out there. Heck you could get a high-time T-6 for what some people want for a nice L-19 / OE-1 The only upside it a lot of the parts for them are available. If you want an afordable taildragger L-Bird, go L-5. I may be biased though.

Cheap, huh? Just how much did that L-5 cost you again? :wink:

Ryan

Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:47 pm

good point :shock:

We talkin about an award winner or a good flyer?

Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:44 pm

I'm talking a good flyer, and the trade for the Hueys should cover the cost. I would like to stay with the FAC theme as I already have the O2-A.

Thanks for all the input

Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:04 pm

I think they are great and easy to fly. Did some glider towing also. If you are a smooth pilot and have good tail wheel procedure you will find it a great plane, if you are having to work at it on every landing don't go solo.

Pirate Lex
http://www.BrewsterCorsair.com

Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:08 pm

I think they are great and easy to fly. Did some glider towing also. If you are a smooth pilot and have good tail wheel procedure you will find it a great plane, if you are having to work at it on every landing don't go solo.

Pirate Lex
http://www.BrewsterCorsair.com

O1-E Bird Dog

O1-E Bird Dog

can you afford $100.00 per hour

OOOPPPPssss would not print message body! AGAIN!!!!!!