Oh my goodness. Does that ever bring back memories. I was assigned to the 219 Recon airplane Co. (Headhunters) in Pleiku Vietnam from May of 1966, until May 1967. I loved to fly and volunteered as an observer on many flights. I was awarded two Air Medals for 50 hours of Combat assault time. We carried and fired four rockets under the wings. We were shot at many times and even got a few bullet holes in the air frame. The Birddog always got us home.
The Italian Army put the Allison turbine in new license built Siai-Marchetti S-M1019b. Those are all retired & popping up on the secondary market. The gust lock seems to have a different configuration & is an early focus of the crash that killed Dale Snodgrass in Idaho a few weeks back.
Actually the Model Number was the L19 and the Model Name was the Bird Dog. Cessna had a company contest to name the aircraft and Jack Swazye of the Photo Lab won. He was still at Cessna in the late 1960s when my husband and I started working there. The other designations came later as it entered the civilian market. Also my husband was crew chief on the L19 at Fort Lewis, WA when we were in Vietnam as "Advisors."
Mark,. I flew as a 10 year old kid in the mid 80s out of PVF in a Grumman TR-2 with my dad who was a San Jose Police instructor pilot (he commuted to/from RHV, and I poached a lot of dual ... while all the OTHER kids were practicing the Moonwalk (& sipping a Pepsi), I was learning the most valuable lesson of all. That you can have money for women and wine, or you can have money for flying airplanes. Rarely both, Having just retired from Silicon Valley's Air National Guard in Feb of 2020 as an active duty instructor Flight Engineer (MC-130P) with the (in)famous 129th Rescue Wing... ...and promptly encountering my SECOND surprise divorce (ain't they just a HOOT?), I decided to revisit that old 1985 advice and bought me-self the tail that old Barry Schiff took his primary and got his ticket in back in the 50s (nice photo spread in Oct 2018 AOPA Pilot - N81881 "Aces over Eights") She doesn't complain when I leave her at my LVK hangar for weeks and head to the Burson Ranch (Base of Lake Camanche) and drink beers telling war stories about other planes I"ve loved and left. ;-) So, your story about the ARVN Major Lee (I did the parachute water survival course at P-Cola and saw that myself), reminded me about a powerful Vietnam story that bumped right into me on that Moffett Field flightline. It is one that I will never forget. I'll pop up and visit you at PVF when the Wx stops leaking so much, so remember that the Combat Rescue dude that will buy you a burger to say thanks for all these great vids you do, wants you to remind him not to leave until you hear the South Vietnamese Hercules HERO Flight Engineer story....because it was one that stopped me dead in my tracks and made me write-up a leaky pair of eyeballs... My own. (oh, and for the record, I WILL have myself a proper Bird Doggy Dogg. It's gonna happen. ) Hold me Accountable, audience!!! No more 'happy wife', so time for a happy life instead!!! (Unless any of you ladies happen to be "Single With Birddog". ;-O (or...A Kitfox 7, be it a new kit, a roller with a trailer, or a flyer with folders to cuddle up next to my poor lonely Champ.) p.s. None of this "woke" BS with you identifying as a taildragger and next thing I know I'm waking up with some post-operative Carbon "Cub" going by the name "X" and a big old trailing link dangling in my face",. -O
That was interesting and very amusing. Thank you for taking the time to write it. Visit anytime, and if it is not a customer filled mayhem day we can get a burger at Shoestrings.
High mark, This is Larry in northeast Indiana. I am 77 and a retired psychologist.I "met" my 1st Bird Dog in the spring of 1969 in the highlands of 1st Corp, S. Viet Nam. I was an infantryman at the time and my company had humped to the top of a 1600 m meter hill in the middle of a very hot day. Upon our arrival there we we spotted a small troop of Viet Cong in the valley between us and the next high ridge. They were apparently carrying heavy loads of supplies further up into the Highlands. Our COl called in an artillery strike initially and and then requested an air Strike. A Bird Dog appeared very soon thereafter over our heads and fired 2 white smoke rockets almost into our midst. Obviously he thought we were the bad guys and was marking the spot for the F4 Phantoms to drop their 500 pounders. The CO was trying frantically to raise him on the radio and was having difficulty doing so but quickly passed the order that if he came around to make another rocket marking run that everyone should fire on him since the Phantoms were only 5 minutes out. Luckily for him the CO made contact and he veered off and finally located the correct target in the Valley below. Then the F4 Phantoms appeared almost immediately and struck the Viet Cong with bombs, rockets and 20 mm cannon. One of our squads made a 1 hour trick down into The Valley to do a BDA. All they found were pieces of bodies. So it was an exciting day for everyone. I was discharged in Oct. 1970. Earned my private in 1972. That cost me a whopping $480. My uncle turned me on to flying when I was 6 y/o when he gave me a ride in a Stinson Reliant out of the Auburn, Indiana airport (2 grass 1500 ft runways). My uncle Bill taught himself to fly in 1921 after buying a WWI surplus Jenny. Bill was a stunt pilot for much of the 20's and then flew small corporate twins from the 30's thru the 50's. He flew for pleasure after retiring and reluctantly hung up his wings at age 83.......quite a remarkable guy. He once told me that in the early years he always flew IFR (I follow roads, or rails).
Boeing installed a turboshaft engine of its own design, a 502-12, in a Bird Dog sometime in the mid to late 1950s as a technology demonstrater. The engine found limited use powering air start carts.
I owned and flew a 1951. I never got bored with it in almost 20-years. Thousands of take offs and landings because it was fun. Windows removed during the warmer months it was such fun. Sold it in 2018 and have missed it since. With max flaps it was incredible and and best be pushing the stick hard and time your round out correctly.
My Grandfather flew these back in the war. When I was a teen he took me flying in one and it was an amazing experience! Ever since I've been a HUGE Bird Dog fan. I've always wanted to own one.
One of the planes that climb, dive & cruise at 100 mph. Simple planes to fly; no bad habits. With full flaps, you're hanging in the shoulder straps, pointed straight down, like a SBD at Midway. You can land them in much less that 600 when motivated. Wish the Skywagon had that stick, but I hate elec flaps. Would be nice for maintenance with the 180's later 470 & maybe a constant speed prop (but I don't think that would make it cruise much faster.)
The 67 Ector Bird Dog that we had was a constant speed with manual flaps and it would do about 115 Kts. Once this one has it's fuel pump installed, I will fly it and add the video. Also, interestingly, the guys that restored this one have contacted me and were happy to see the plane on here.
Full throttle, 25 degrees flaps, full stall landing at 30 Kts IAS, then quickly chop the throttle, drop flaps to 60 deg, for more drag, and brake ...very short landing rollout. I just dug out the operator's manual and looked at the flight characteristics and, in combat, I see that we far exceeded the capabilities as published. We had techniques to shorten the take off roll. Full power, release brakes and go, or, think of an "L" shaped take off roll. If space permits, taxi up to and turn into the take off direction with a head start to the take off roll. In the year that I flew in Vietnam, I landed on a paved runway just two times.
Man those flaps throw on a ton of drag! Had to laugh at his description of the flap motor sound. It broke my heart watching those UH1s go into the drink because my brother flew them in Vietnam, but it saved a family so I’m good with that.
Neat airplane to say the least. Since I use to spend a lot of time on my uncle's ranch, which is 12 miles from the nearest town, I have always liked things that are simple, rugged and practical. This airplane certainly meets that criteria.
Yes, these are great. This one is based here at Placerville and I was allowed to use it as a topic. I could not run it or taxi it because the fuel pump is out at the moment. It has a pressure carb and needs the pump to start and run it. Maybe I can add a bit of flying and taxi-ing later.
@@skywagonuniversity5023 That would be the icing on the cake Sir. Boy would I love to fly that beauty. Who ever restored it, did one heck of a job on it. It is clean as a pen, and Beautiful!!!!! For now I will have to stick to my R/C L-19's.
Great bird. Lot of hours in the beauty. Lovely power plant. .. With those 60-degrees of manually deployed flaps you could touch down on the bottom of the numbers and have him stopped as your tail wheel touched the top of the numbers. Love that bird, kept me safe and happy.
Made them from 1949 for the Army From the 170 are only the wings and strut nothing else And only wing geometry, they changed almost everything double rivets for E Model The structure was reinforced to carry bombs and rockets Gear is different,... and Hard to get Not similar with 170 Fuselage has nothing to do with C170 It was a complete new construction Rudder and elevator are form C190 The bird dog is a fantastic plane Love to fly it day by day But it’s a special plane to land... The L19 separates the men from the boys since 1949 Keep them flying Fred
Cessna made great airplanes. The controls/brake lock, the one-way ratcheting mixture, the stowing tail handles, the stowable rear rudder/brake pedals, the inward opening rear windows... ingenious. They used (use?) these for tow planes at Dillingham field here in Hawaii. I wanted the job, but had to settle for a FEDEX Caravan!
I did a boatload of Pararescue drops over Dillingham one trip to K-Bay. Elevator lifts all day in a Herk and nobody complained, for it was August and the alternate DZ was Yuma, Arizona at a tic past 400 degrees C (give or take) And I can tell you THIS. There ain't no La Mariana Sailing Club in Yuma, Arizona.
Mark, Another GREAT video, with a ton of useful information as usual. Please keep these up, as they are very interesting and quite enjoyable. Thanks so, so much!!
@@skywagonuniversity5023 The visibility is what I remember most. The ones in Hawaii all had manual flaps. At 60 degrees you could almost hang from your shoulder straps going downhill.
O470 -11B I have a lot of time flying the B -dog towing gliders and about 8 to 10 landing per hour of flight. We call it a Bird Dog because all it wants to do is leave the runway and chase birds. Super fun to fly and only a fool will 3 point land it in a crosswind.
This is am "A" model with the circuit breakers on the instrument panel. The only L-19s, I saw in four and a half years, that had this throttle quadrant, and the mirror mounted on the right side of the instrument panel, were those used in the basic and advanced training program. Everything else had the standard round knob throttle, a toggle switch sticking out of the side windshield frame for the flaps, and no mirror. The mirror was there so the you, and the instructor, could look each other in the eye, when he was chewing you out. An interesting point, I never recall hearing it called the Bird Dog. Everyone called it the L-19, even after it was changed to the O- 1 in 1962.
You didn’t mention the purpose of the 60 degree flaps. They weren’t so much for landing but aiming smoke rockets at a steep angle. Think Stuka. As a FAC, If you weren’t going down hanging by your seatbelt, then you’d never get smoke on target for close support otherwise. The steep deck angle provided by the flaps made it all possible. I thought the FAA required all civilian L-19s to have the 60 degrees locked out (or maybe it was just the insurance companies being jumpy).
Mark I just watched another RU-vid video from an Austrian L-19 Group, interviewing "Shotgun 33", a 1969-70 O-1/L-19 driver in Vietnam. He flew both the D and G models. Interestingly, the G models were remanufactured by Cessna from older models with zero-time engines and other mods, including the fixed-pitch prop. One might ask, from a constant-speed prop to a fixed-pitch, why? The D model was faster, but the G model offered a better rate-of-climb, which according to this Army Aviator was a better choice for the FAC mission. Once you fired the targeting rockets, which was a low and slow operation, you wanted to climb out ASAP! Fast was not as important as getting away from gunfire, by climbing.
@@skywagonuniversity5023 my guess, on the bottom...she scored 4 confirmed kills, just one shy of making her the first ball turret ace...after the war she help the homeless repair small home appliances.
Manual flap, fixed pitch O-1A was an excellent airplane to fly. I only have banner towing experience in one, so have virtually nothing to bring to the table, but I miss that airplane!
Obviously this is a highway some place and NOT an airport. So with a good long stretch of road without obstructions you or someone else who isn't seen and therefore can't be nailed by the authorities flew it in with stakeouts at all ends to stop road traffic while the filming was being done and then flown out with no one the wiser. Just a good thing some sheriff didn't come around! But a good time was had by all. I've flown one of these and it is a hand full, but you sure have to get the tail wheel down fast and not let it get away from you as there is alot of spring in the gear.
I wish it was that interesting and adventurous. That "road" is the unused access to the hangars that have never been built at Placerville. I use it because it gives a clean uncluttered background.
I never stop being amazed at how so many objects of our past and affections, whether cars or airplanes, were so inexpensive to own and plentiful in the 60s and 70s and then bam!! The next thing I know, I'm 60, and they are almost priceless. If you can find them. Which why I love watching your channel. When you mentioned the flip up windows I was reminded of one war movie or another that I think was the Battle of the Bulge? It shows an officer in rear seat with the window open. He asks the pilot to close the throttle, so he could hear any troop movements on the ground. It was soupy out and he had a hunch. Sure enough, he could just make out the sound of tracked vehicles and tanks down below. Wish I remembered the movie. So, for your next one how about the L-4 Grasshopper and the story of LC Charles Carpenter?
I think what happens is that the item of the past becomes desirable in the future because it is a reality of that past that can be owned and kept in the present.
George. The bird-dog is just like a big metal cub. Feels like a Cessna in the air. More like a 180 but a center view and center seat so a straighter view. I have not flown the Marchetti 1019. That video is the third time I have flown a bird dog so it must be easy if I can do it.
@@skywagonuniversity5023 , Hi I've subscribed to other channels but yours will not let me click on the bells for notification. I should say I can click on the notification bell but it will not change the bell with the slash in it. I only have a bell with a slash thru it and no matter what I do it will not change the slashed bell. i.e. "NO NOTIFICATIONS" Thanks.
Catastrophic video!!!! The only thing they used of the 170 are the wings geometry!!!! The wings are reinforced and have double rivets to carry bomb load unter the wings, the modified them with fowler flaps for 60 degrees. The elevator and rudder are form the Cessna 195 !!!! The fuselage was a completely new design! And the spring gear is also not the same like the 170!!!! Please inform yourself before you spread misinformation like this !!!
Fred, we always appreciate it when someone points out an error, as we are always learning ourselves. But, we do NOT appreciate rudeness or unnecessarily harsh words. Please try to be civil. Thank you.
@@skywagonuniversity5023 by telling you that your video is full of misinformation I am not civil! If you can’t handle the truth or if you are not able to deal with critic’s then the problem is not located at my answer! It’s like when you say the Porsche 911 is just an updated beatle !!! It is …… wrong! That’s the point
We had growing pains where microphones were concerned. We've gotten it sorted out now though. Check our our newer videos. The sound is much, much better. - Don the Camera Guy.
