Warbird Information Exchange

For many years FAAO (Friends of Army Aviation Ozark) has kept an eye on this historically significant aircraft, hoping one day they would be able to save it and bring it home to their hangar located on Blackwell Field, Ozark, Al. That day came today when ownership of 67-15000 was transferred to FAAO and the aircraft was moved to the hangar.

This was a very special day as this aircraft came close to being sold off as scrap at auction but now it will be restored to full flying status over the next several years.

The aircraft was displayed outside at the Ft. Rucker Museum for several years before it was given to the Technical College at Ozark for students to work on. It suffered some damage during it's time at the college and the original panel was removed and discarded along with a few other parts. However the plane is still in remarkably original condition and no major corrosion was found in the air frame.

FAAO currently operates and maintains a O-1 and the T-41B will be a welcome addition as the fleet continues to grow with the addition of other fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Below are some photos of the aircraft, the first one is as it was the day it was delivered to the US Army.

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More photos

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Additional photos

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Photos

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Glad to see that the good guys got hold of it before the scrap man did. Too many of these stories end up with the scrap man winning.

I'm hoping we'll soon be seeing a renaissance of various Vietnam types and more first hand accounts from the vets, especially now that Vietnam generation is starting to age and pass away in greater numbers -- not unlike the World War II generation during the 1990s.

A very worthy project and one I'm glad to see secured. Bravo to everyone involved!

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Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

Great project! Hats off to you for saving it. Will you post update on the restoration here?

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

I agree and we especially need to see more emphasis placed on saving and restoring Army fixed wing aircraft like the OV-1, T-41B, T-42, U-6, and others. Right now a lot of Army aircraft are being reduced to aluminum scrap and the history lost along with the aircraft.

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I hope that every stage of the restoration will be posted here as well as the FAAO Facebook page. It should be very interesting to watch as this aircraft returns to the air.

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