Here are a few you don't see a lot of----------------------

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WW1, American major in the basket of an observation balloon flying over territory near front lines.
(How did they get that photo?)

FROM A USFG COLLECTION
A German reconnaissance plane before take-off, probably before 1916.

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A U.S. Navy Vought O2U-1 Corsair (BuNo A9737) at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Langley, Virginia (USA), 26 April 1930: The Vought O2U-1 was the first Vought airplane to carry the name Corsair. The O2U was built as an observation aircraft for the Navy, and the example flown by the NACA for evaluation and cowling tests was one of the last O2U-1s built. This Corsair came from the Naval Reserve squadron at Naval Air Station Anacostia, Washington

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Three U.S. Marine Corps Vought SU-2 Corsair aircraft from Marine observation squadron VO-8M in flight, circa 1934.

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Three Douglas O-46A and three North American O-47 aircraft assigned to the Maryland National Guard's 104th Observation Squadron conduct a training sortie on 1 March 1940. Less than a year later, the 104th was mobilized in anticipation of World War II.

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A U.S. Navy K-type blimp in flight, during World War II.

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"Sunset over the Atlantic finds another United Nations convoy moving peacefully towards it destiniation. A U.S. Navy blimp, hovering watchfully overhead, is on the lookout for any sign of enemy submarines, June 1943."

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Piper L-4 starting from a road, location unknown.

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A USAAF Stinson L-5 Sentinel (s/n 42-14799) in April 1943.
"The "flying jeep," known also as the "eye upstairs" of the Army ground forces. Technically named the Sentinel (L-3), it is capable of hovering at speeds under forty-five miles per hour while directing ground movements and operations."

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A USAAF Consolidated OA-10A Catalina (USAAF designation of the PBY) landing off Keesler Field , Mississippi (today Keesler Air Force Base), during a training exercise with U.S. Marine Corps rescue boat crews in 1944.

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U.S. Air Force North American T-6s are parked in a revetment area at an advanced airstrip in Korea, on 9 March 1953. The Texans were used in Korea by forward air controllers. (Sorry This Is All I Have From Korea)

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A South Vietnamese Air Force Sikorsky CH-34C Choctaw (US Army s/n 63-13201) lifting a VNAF Cessna O-1 Bird Dog in 1968.

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A U.S. Air Force Cessna O-1A Bird Dog (s/n 51-12824) in flight over Vietnam. Date Unkown

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A U.S. Air Force Cessna 0-1E Bird Dog aircraft (s/n 56-4200) in flight over Vietnam in 1967. The aircraft was used as a forward air control aircraft throughout South Vietnam. The forward air controller (FAC) spotted suspected enemy strongholds and fired smoke rockets to mark the target for strike aircraft. Following a strike the FAC assessed bomb damage.

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A U.S. Air Force Cessna O-2A-CE Super Skymaster (s/n 67-21436) in flight near Pleiku, Vietnam, in 1968.

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A U.S. Air Force Cessna O-2A Super Skymaster fires a white phosphorus rocket (just to the right of the gunsight’s crosshairs) to mark a target for strike aircraft near Phan Rang, Vietnam, in 1969.

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A U.S. Air Force Cessna O-2A-CE Super Skymaster (s/n 67-21407) in flight. This aircraft was manufactured in 1967 and flown to Vietnam in August of the same year. It was based at Pleiku and served in until April 1971. It was finally retired from the USAF to MASDC as HV0128 in January 1980. After being stored for 14 years, the aircraft was restored and flew as a civil registered aircraft in the USA since 1994. In 2000, it was bought by an Australian and donated to the Temora Aviation Museum in Temora, New South Wales (Australia), in December 2000.

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(I was one of the engine builders for Dick Rutan, when I worked at TCM for the VOYAGER Project, so this pic is kinda special to me)
U.S. Air Force Capt. James “Ed” Risinger finished his "Misty FAC" tour in the North American F-100F Super Sabre that is on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (s/n 56-3837) on 18 March 1968. Capt. Risinger, holding a glass of champagne, celebrates his 58th and final mission. On the left is Capt. Brian Williams and inspecting bullet damage is Capt. Richard Rutan. The "Misty" Forward Air Controllers used F-100Fs since 1967. First, they were stationed first at Phu Cat Air Base, then in 1969, they moved to Tuy Hoa Air Base.

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A U.S. Air Force North American F-100F-10-NA Super Sabre aircraft (s/n 56-3882) of the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phu Cat air base, South Vietnam. The 416th TFS operated from Phu Cat with F-100s from 15 April 1967 to 27 May 1969. The F-100Fs were used in the forward air controller role. The F-100F 56-3882 was retired to the MASDC on 7 September 1979 as FE0591.

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U.S. Navy Rockwell OV-10A Bronco of light attack squadron VAL-4 Black Ponies in Vietnam. VAL-4 (tail code "UM") was established in 1969 and retired in 1972.

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Group photograph of U.S. Air Force Fast Forward Air Controllers ("Wolf FACs") of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Royal Thai AB in June 1968. Drawn from the four squadrons assigned to the wing, these pilots volunteered for the Fast FAC missions. The McDonnell F-4D Phantom II is from the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, and the squadron’s "Night Owl" symbol is just behind the air inlet.

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O-2A of the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron taxiing for takeoff, Danang Air Base, February 1968.

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A U.S. Army Grumman OV-1A Mohawk (s/n 59-2607) taking off. This aircraft crashed on 16 June 1965.

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1LT Ralph G. Rosenberg and crew of OV-1 Mohawk aircraft on airstrip somewhere in Vietnam.

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An OA-37B Dragonfly prepares for a low-level strafing mission at dawn. The modified version of the T-37 flight trainer aircraft has been adapted for use by forward air controllers and as an observation and attack aircraft.

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A U.S. Air Force Cessna OA-37B Dragonfly aircraft of the 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron fires a white phosphorous marking rocket during a training flight. The 24th TASS, based at Howard Air Force Base, Panama, was the USAF's only active-duty OA-37B forward air control unit in 1990.

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U.S. Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas OA-4M Skyhawk (BuNo 154638) from Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) taxis on the flight line during the combined Thai/U.S. joint exercise “Thalay Thai '89”, 1 September 1989. This aircraft was later put on static display at the main gate of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.

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An air-to-air left side view of an OA-37 Dragonfly aircraft with a Mark 20 bomb mounted under the right wing and a Mark 82 500-lb. general-purpose bomb under the left.

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An air-to-air right side view of an OV-10 Bronco aircraft firing a White phosphorus smoke rocket to mark a ground target. The aircraft is used by forward air controllers in support of ground troops.

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U.S. Air Force forward air control instructor Maj. Scott Shinn explains the Cessna O-2A-CE Super Skymaster (s/n 68-10872) aircraft's rocket pod firing sequence to three other Missouri Air National Guard pilots of the 110th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida (USA), on 1 August 1980.

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A U.S. Air Force Cessna OA-37B Dragonfly aircraft of the 24th Composite Wing from Howard Air Force Base, Canal Zone, is parked on the flight line of a Guatemalan air base on 29 July 1987. Members of the wing were deployed to Guatemala for training.

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OA-10A 80-0170 70th Fighter Squadron, 347th Wing. Ahmed Al-Jaber AB Kuwait circa 1997 participating in Operation Southern Watch.
And Just One More That I Thought Was Cool!

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Top view of Boeing SB-17G-95DL (S/N 44-83722), assigned to the 2nd ERS as a Search and Rescue aircraft, with Stinson L-5 (S/N 42-98578).
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