The OV-10 Bronco: Designed by Marines, Built for COIN Ops 

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I promise you, no one has forgotten about the bronco!!!!

I had the privilege of serving with VAL-4, the Black Ponies, in 1971-'72. The OV-10 still has a place in my affection. It was the most willing little aircraft.

So.. am I the only one that thinks that utilitarian vehicles are aesthetically pleasant ?

I remember this plane very well. My father worked at North American Aviation in Columbus Ohio and was a wing fabricator for the OV-10 and many many other aircrafts. During the Vietnam War, I was in junior high in 1965 when my father first started mentioning him working on this plane. By the time I reached high school in 1968 as a 15 year old, with cousins, uncle and a brother all fighting in "Nam", I had a lot of interests in the machinery and equipment used to fight that war. I felt proud my Dad was helping to contribute to that effort. I joined the Air Force in 1972 and my father continued his efforts in building aircrafts that helped fight that war.

On a day patrol off Hill 55 in early 1971, our squad of Marines got caught out in an open area of sand and were pinned down on the opposite side of the Arizona Territory at the Song Vu Gia river by an NVA ambush. The arty on hill 55 almost hit us with Willie Peter. I called for air support and got an OV-10 out of Da Nang with the callsign "HOSTAGE FANG." After he understood what side of the river we were on, he said, "Put your heads down, gents. This stuff bounces." He then proceeded to blast that side of the river and after that we were able to walk away without another hostile shot being fired at us. Brother, if you are out there and see this, many thanks. I will never forget. L/Cpl. P. D. "Gov" Regan, Mco 3/1 1st MARDIV. 👍

COIN is the least of our worries since we've found out that the age of full-scale war is back. That being said, the Bronco was an awesome piece of kit 😁

I was a US Marine platoon commander in Vietnam 1968-1969 and the OV-19 occasionally supported us by controlling airstrikes on enemy positions that were difficult for us to observe from our ground positions. Loved when an OV-10 was overhead.

I'd love to own one of these for their simplicity. They are truly beautiful.

The Bronco is not forgotten... Only improperly utilized. Semper Fi 🇺🇸

much thanks for making this video! my dad flew OV-10s for the Philippine Air Force before he honorably left the service to fly as a civilian, and I was able to watch them fly in and out of our home air base almost on a daily basis, and even get to enjoy seeing annual live fire demos 🤩🤩 the particular plane that bore his name when it first arrived in the PAF fleet (ex USAF 67-14636) is still flying to this day, and has been wired to employ GBU-49 laser JDAMs... one of the planes in the PAF fleet that he also flew, ex USAF 67-14639, was actually one of the planes that exchange pilots from the RAAF flew during the Vietnam War, and was one of the air assets employed during the infamous BAT21 CSAR mission... after 639 was prematurely retired due to extensive airframe corrosion, the PAF donated the airplane to the Australian War Memorial museum in Canberra, where it was fully restored for display, painted back into the original USAF scheme it wore during the conflict...

I have seen the Cal Fire (California's Wild Fire Service) OV-10s acting as aerial spotters and guide planes for the larger water tanker planes which drop water and retardant on wildfires here! Love the OV-10... great second life in the fire-fighting role!

I just happen to be one of the Navy Aviation Ordnance men (AO) who worked on the OV -10 (I was assigned to VS-41) when the first 2 Broncos were delivered (air frame numbers 155470 and 155472) to the Navy. I don't think that there is an AO who worked on Bronco's that did not enjoy the experience. VAL- 4 went on to be the best known OV-10 squadron, I am proud to have been a small part in their history. The Navy still has an OV-10. 155472 now lives at the Navy Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida. I don't know if this is still true, but 155470 was at one time used for mosquito suppression in, I believe, the coastal area of South Carolina, as it was, minus the M-60's. Very nice video, ;-)

Growing up in Indonesia, I love the OV-10 Bronco. It was one of the first aircrafts I learnt about. Thank you for making this video.

My father was a Mustang & served 26 yrs in the Corps (Enlisted at 17 & was a B.A.R. Gunner in Korea & Retired a Maj after two tours in Vietnam w/ 4th Bat/12th Mar/3rd Mar Div '66-'67 & 4th Bat/11th Mar/1st Mar Div '70-71') and I loved and remember in the late 60's & early 70's him taking us often to watch the Bronco's operating at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, Orange County, CA. As we lived at US Navy/USMC Pacific Heights Housing Annex, San Pedro, CA., which now is USAF Housing Annex, Pacific Heights.

Great piece. Love the ridiculous versatility of the Bronco. Grew up seeing it at a base near my home. Bien Hoa = “Be-in wha” in the north and “Bean wha” in the south.

My dad was an U.S.M.C. avionics tech around 1970 or so. He worked on the OV-10, AH-1 Cobra and KC-130. He has many fond memories of those aircraft.

We have three Broncos at the museum where I work (including one of the original factory mock-ups), one of which is painted in memory of Captain Steven Bennett, the only Bronco pilot to be a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

I remember this from my PJ RESCUE OF DAYS IN VIETNAM. It was a small but very durable ACFT.. TOOK A LOT OF BALLS TO FLY ONE IN MY OPINION.

The OV-10 to me is one of the most interesting aircraft designs ever.

i adore the OV-10, one of my favorite planes of the Vietnam war era

I worked at US Forces Japan from 1980-1983. In 1982, a flight of two OV-10s was flying in formation from Osan Air Base, Korea to Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan, to participate in the annual Yokota Air Show. As the approached the coast of Jaoan, they ran into thick clouds and the wingman l9st sight of the lead plane. Rather than pull away to ensure separation, the wing pilot got obsessed with switching to instrument flight, allowing his plane to drift too close to the lead plane, his left propeller cutting the right tail.boom of the lead plane. The lead plane came apart, pitching nose down. The pilot hit the ejection seats, but in that odd attitude the parachute for the passenger (a TSgt maintenance crew member being rewarded for outstanding performance) got wrapped around the ejection rocket of his seat and.burned up. It took about 5 minutes for him to fall to earth. The wing plane's engine came apart and the crew ejected. I served as legal advisor to the aircraft accident investigation board comvened by the brigadier general commanding USFJ/ 5th Air Force.

I grew up at Camp Pendleton. I lived seeing these flying all over.

I saw this aircraft flying a lot as a child in Hawai'i. My uncle who was still fighting in Vietnam told me about this wonderful aircraft. 💖

I was a Marine rigger for OV-10’s serving with VMO-6 out of MCAS Futema OK in 74-75. This was a great plane and I was fortunate to fly many test hops on it. It was a joy to fly and a few of my fellow pilots allowed me to have a hand at flying them. Very cool lil bird indeed.

Being assigned to VMO-4 from 1977-1980 , thanks.

My brother Leon served two tours in Vietnam in the back seat of an 0V10. Unfortunately, he and his pilot were killed in South Korea, in 1978, while on deployment. Thank you for for remembering. Rest in peace Lt. Leon Gingras.

The Nevada Division of Forestry used it as well. There was a privately owned one based at Carson City Airport i used to see flying around from time to time.

Incredible, thank you for bringing this very well done informative piece of flying history. I wasn’t aware of the OV-10. I truly enjoyed watching, I could have taken in a whole lot more info. Again thank you us, the ones that didn’t know about this amazing aircraft.

Back in the 90s, DynCorp was granted a contract to spray the coca fields of Colombia (and possibly other ops) to deny the FARC of their revenue sources. DynCorp decided surplus OV-10s were the platform of choice. They also determined Daytona to be the ideal midpoint for refueling and staging. It was two years of Daytona becoming a defacto base for OV-10 operations. They have a distinct sound of high RPM props with 60s jet screech. Coincidentally, this was also around the period when Daytona was also a primary base for post-Hurricane Andrew relief efforts. Those efforts saw massive use of CH-47 Chinooks flying in and out in long streams of 12 or more. It was a great time to be an aviation freak.

I always wanted a Bronco. I think it'd make a blast of a civil aircraft.

When I was a Camp Pendleton in the early 1990s, it was so cool to see an OV-10 pull up into a climb and see a bunch of Recon Bubba's parachute out the back. Very cool aircraft.

It's always good to see such a versatile and still capable aircraft, conceived decades ago. Still being of practical use today.

We had a squadron of OV-10's at NKP Royal Thai AFB in 1970-1971 and they did an awesome job. USAF

Although it loosing relevancy, it been one of my favorite aircraft in history. A beautiful bird. It sets up there with the A10 and so many more.

I tnink a highly modernized new-build version with a stronger composite structure and new engines could be a very effective counter-insurgency plane.

Again I learned more Juan. Thanks for another great post. My father worked with Bronco's as FAC and following some mission, would fly post mission assessments with his buddy, an OV-10 driver. Pop loved the Bronco. Bronco, kinda the forefather of the of Warthog, but Bronco didn't take as high dose of steroids, took the seventies to up the dosage. LOL p.s. I work with a fellow that few OV-10s and OA-10s as FAQ n the desert wars.

I flew the OV10 from Feb 1971 until 1972 during my 2nd tour. Great plane. Flew 4B most of the time. Then I went onto flying the C5 Galaxy which my son now flies too, but his are the C5M's (smile) Flying it was like being a fish in the sea, you could go up and down, left and right with no problem. Great plane. Wish I could still fly them. But, alas, at 77 years of age, who would let me, ha, ha?

Great video, but the comments from vets sharing their personal experiences is pure gold.

always lived the bronco SEMPER FI 🫡

As a military aircraft, I'm afraid that the Bronco's day is done. The Philippines are phasing them out, replacing them with Super Tocanos. They are maxed out in weight, decreasing performance. And there is the unfortunate fact that no aircrew has ever survived ditching one.

I’ve seen it a few times over my house for firefighting spotters here in California. Was so excited to see just overhead. I was aviation geeking out. :)

They need to bring them back. Great video. Thanks for sharing, and have a wonderful day

As a military historian I've known of them since the 60s.Brovos, Birddogs and Sandys did an outstanding job in their time. These days, given the SAM envelope, they just aren't viable.

VMO-2 at Camp Pendleton was my first parent squadron in 1983. I was an Avionics Tech stationed at Camp Pendleton. We would watch the OV-10's dropping Marine paratroopers out of the back of the broncos. They would remove the rear hatch and put 5 Paratroopers in the back tunnel. The last guy had his feet and legs hanging out the back. The pilot would fly along level and when it was time to drop the paratroops he would pull up sharply allowing the 5 Marines to slide out the back.

I saw a Bronco flying a month ago. They are being used to coordinate fire fighting aircraft here in the western United States. Edit: spelling.

Love the Bronco. Just such a cool looking plane, and so capable and versatile. I loved going to the El Toro air show back in the 90's and watching the MAGTF demo. a pair of OV-10's would come in right on the deck, pull straight up, and at about 1,000 feet, 6 troopers would stream out the back while still in the vertical

I was at Camp Pendelton in 1991 and saw it use with Marine recon. It would go vertical slightly and dump out parachutists. Very cool.

Wow that German Bronco sure did look like something out of world war 2

I am Scottish and lived in the Philippines for 10 years and used to see the Bronco at a number of local airports, mainly in the South. They were used extensivley for COIN ops against the Islamic Terrorists in the region. One of my Fav aircraft.

I always loved watching my buddy play DCS A10 and it makes sense knowing that it was a FAC-A after having seen the observation capabilities of the spotting pods, sure it was useful for spotting and marking your own targets, but that could easily be used to guide in others as well at a safe stand-off distance, neat!

I remember the OV-10 Bronco, it was a hugh motivation for me to become a pilot. 🇺🇸

I am very familiar with the OV10! I arched them preform at Camp Pendleton in the late 60’s! Would admire them on our flight line at Quantico in the early 79’s and as a Machinist in a Depot preformed repair work on them as they were being ready for mothballing !

THANKS! I'd never heard about this! Cool concept!

Worked with Broncos in the late 1980s as a Naval Aircrewman - even got some flight time while going through Naval Gunfire Spotting School - and later flew in the SH-60B Seahawk during Desert Shield/Storm in coordination with the Bronco. These days - the Bronco still flies with California's Department of Forestry as a CALFIRE spotter aircraft - coordinating tanker-drop aircraft and providing aerial supervision of all wild-fires -

I was in the Army when the OV-1 Mohawk was flying. Unfortunately the OV1 committed the sin of killing a Mig. So it got it's claws pulled for sensors only.

I was stationed at NAS Atlanta reserve Base from 82-90 when the Marines that were also station their reserves went to desert storms and they took their Corba's and OV-10s. I really like The OV-10. They would sound like a pair of mustangs at high speed when they came past the over the run way and make the final brake

« A LONELY KIND OF WAR » written by Marshall harrison. If you want stories about the OV10 Bronco, it’s one of the best read about vietnam and about aviation I have ever had. Very nice video, the 3d views are very interseting. The models looks nice too. Great channel. Thank you.

The Canadians are bringing back the OV-10 with a built from scratch model. Really cool looking too if you're a fan of the aircraft. Marine Corps aviation really doesn't get the credit they deserve, but with the Bronco fewer aircraft have been a blueprint for modularity and diversity of purpose than the OV-10.

They aircraft that you showed was in camper Pendleton CA as a detached unit to HML 267as VMO-2, that's why they have the spades on them, I Loved them, that was in 1970 to 73. ECK USMC

Awesome plane, the video does well to document its development and use. Thanks!

I love the OV-10, by just looking at it, it reminds me of the IA-58, another of my favorite planes

Carrying the weapons in the rear gives it a Battletech looking profile

EXCELLENT VIDEO, THANKS. Definitely the OV-10 is a great aerial platform as you said it : "Swiss pocket knife".

The OV-10 has always been one of my favorite aircraft. When I was a kid, my older sister bought me a "Wings of the Marines" book as a gift. The OV-10 was featured heavily in the pages. At first I was surprised that the Marines were still flying a boring old "prop job". To my preteen mind, jets were way cooler. But even still, I found myself trying to learn everything that I could about the strange little twin engine aircraft, the bronco. Learning about anything aviation related was much harder in the pre-internet era. According to everything that I could find at the time, many pilots didn't consider the bronco to be as sexy as a jet, but they loved flying the bronco anyway. Mainly because of it's mild flying characteristics, and it's unrivaled versatility. I was hooked. I remember going to an air show with my dad, and a few broncos were there. I bee lined straight to them. My dad was like, "what about the AV8b harrier"? Nope, I didn't care, I had to see the bronco in person! It was an awesome experience, I will never forget seeing it and talking to the pilots. I wanted to fly it! I have loved it ever since. My mind always imagined WW2 scenarios, where an OV-10 somehow found itself in the Pacific, fighting alongside the Corsairs. Kids will imagine the craziest things.

One of the first models built and I think it’s an absolute stunning aircraft

The' knuckled'' shock absorber performance on the corrugated runway at the 14 min mark was just amazing. What an incredible aircraft.

VMO 1, 2 , 4, & 6 . Ooorahh. The Mighty OV 10

This was the first model I built. Wicked aircraft!

The US Navy The U.S. Navy formed Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4), the "Black Ponies", on 3 January 1969, and operated in Vietnam from April 1969 to April 1972. The Navy used the Bronco OV-10A as a light ground-attack aircraft, for interdiction of enemy logistics, and fire support of Marines, SEALs, and naval riverine force vessels. It succeeded in this role, although the U.S. Navy did lose seven OV-10s during the war to various causes.

I serviced one at SJ AFB while working transit support. It looked nice. it was easy to do simple stuff like fuel and oil. It seems to have had it's day. Being a bit slow and some other problems. I suspect many lessons were carried into newer designs.

It is interesting that at some point in your video you compare the Bronco to the F-16, since they once went head to head in a dogfight. A REAL dogfight. It happened during a Coup attempt in Venezuela which at the time had both airplanes in its inventory. Sadly, the Bronco didn’t fare well, although I believe that if the Bronco had been armed with the sude-shooting Gatling gun, the fight might hace been more even. PS: there’s video out there of this incident.

I had a plastic model I put together of this aircraft in the mid -late 1970s

Lover the OV-10 Bronco and the O-2 Skymaster

Always had a soft spot for this aircraft I just think is sexy for a prop driven plane.

What a great idea. The unmanned drones paired ip with eyes on the battlefield by the, OV-10 Bronco's. Directing fire and watching out for enemy contacts, without putting more than needs to be aircrews at risk. Plus the counter measures against ground based radar.

This would be so fun to fly! Love the simulation with pilots..

Beautiful concept and design

Loved the video. You hit all the missions dead on target. Can you imagine a modern Bronco with new engines, scimitar 5-bladed props, synthetic construct, and winglets on the wing for better efficiency and control at low speeds in landing. A Modern Digital Bronco would be a very versatile, effective, efficient aircraft. It should have been revisited in the competition of AT-6 / A-29 Light Attack Aircraft. These type competitions are just waist of money trying to make something we already know and own.

I love flying the OV-10 in DCS

I was a high school student during the war in southeast Asia, but I remember this type of airplane ! Generally used for reconnaissance and light ground attack or infantry fire support missions. I think they were phased out of US Military Operations after the war, but I never heard specifically what happened to them after the 1970's.

The Convair Model 48 'Charger' COIN actually flew a year earlier than the Bronco; and despite very good flight characteristics, it lost out to the NA Bronco. Both the Bronco and the Charger initially had much shorter wingspans (the Convair spanning only 30 feet). Unfortunately, the sole Charger was destroyed when a military test pilot tried an unauthorized single-engine go-round and crashed (the pilot survived).

Saw one in action at Pendleton. OV-10 marked the stationary target with William Pete. The F-18 missed...twice.

God I was so busy looking at the rocket pods I didn't even see the dual embedded M60s, always had a soft spot in my heart for those beasties

Enjoyed the video. Thanks for getting me updated on this aircraft. 🙈🙉🙊 😎 🇺🇸

Always loved the Bronco

I was stationed in the Philippines during the final days of the Vietnam war. One of the bases that I work, was a support facility for an Air Force bombing range called Crow Valley. One day, my boss invited me to go to the range to not only watch the bombing practice of the jets from both the Air Force, but also the Navy and Marines. We were there to add some realism to the attack runs by shooting Vary Flare pistols with a cartridge called an air burst simulator. It launched a small aluminum shell that burst with a dark gray puff of smoke. It looked like flack shells going off. There were 3 of us doing this and I was given 2 guns and plenty of shells. I had asked my boss, what happens if we hit or get a shell into an intake of the jets? He said they will either use emergency procedures or crash. Honestly, I almost hit at least 2 of those planes that day. There was an OV-10 FAC plane spotting for the fighters, and designating targets with WP missiles. I enjoyed watching it. At the end of the bombing practice for the day, he made a photo run on where we were located at the range and we were to throw as much up as we could. We put up dozens of AB shells and red flares to make it look like we were really trying to shoot him down. I didn't get to see the film, but during a commanders call meeting of the squadron, they showed it in all it's glory. It was a very fun day.

It was also the first aircraft to be shot down and caused the first P.O.W. day One of Desert Storm.

I've never seen a Bronco live, but there was a Popular Mechanics article on it DECADES ago and I've seen other articles on it since in various places. As I understand it, it was designed as an "Active shooter" to compliment or possibly compete with the Mohawk in COIN operations.

Such a cute badass lil plane

Not gone or forgotten just unsung. Wished I had a few.

OV-1, O-2 , OV10 and A-37 as well as A-10s can still be viable platforms, and used with each other to coordinate and execute operations.

I remember the OV-10 very well from the early 1980ties, when I was an air traffic controller in the German army . We used the Bronco OV-10B as a target tow aircraft for air defense weapon exercise. This version had a canopy style trunk (here you can see that 20:47) and a windlass to let out around 1200m of rope (or more) with a 6 m long airbag at the end (which was the target). In my days they were operated by a civilian company. Our practice area was at the Baltic coast and the planes came in from the sea, leveled at around 500m IIRC. The target was shot by hand weapons (G3), machine guns (MG3) or 40mm anti aircraft guns. Sometimes the Americans joined in and used the 20mm Vulcan (gatling gun). Very high firing rate, but poor results in general. We also had the Gepard (which is now serving in the Ukraine) at the range but not with the Bronco. One day an American general came to the tower. He had the funny idea to let a AH-1 Cobra helicopter hover above the shooting range and then fire with a M197 at the target, which should fly parallel to the coastline, towed by an OV-10. When we asked him, how to get sure that the Cobra would not shoot after the target (and so after or at the Bronco), he had the brilliant idea to mount ropes at the tail of the hovering (!) helicopter and put some soldiers there to prevent the helicopter from rotating towards the Bronco... OMG. The chief pilot of the Broncos called him crazy 😎 and so this never happened, luckily. The guy in the Bronco who had the controls of the target - the operator - was seated backwards and when we practiced a falling exercise from 1500m to 500m (to simulate a ground attack) the poor guys sometimes got sick🤢- understandable. It was very impressive when the OV-10 got to throw off the target on our practice ground. The pilots (civilians, you remember) managed to do a real low flight, just a few meters over the walls which divided the shooting ranges, and then let the air bag go. This was almost each time shocking for the soldiers who were at the range at that moment when this aircraft was thundering over them just a few meters above their helmets... Great fun for us on the tower. 😁 Sometimes the air bag did not fall on our ground but in a garden in the next village, that was not so funny since the people got a little bit crazy when a 6 m long air bag landed in their garden... It was a pity that I was not allowed to do a flight with them, but you needed a parachute approval for that (which I did not had).

Awesome plane. I highly recommend the non-fiction book "A lonely kind of war", it's about a forward air controller in vietnam flying that plane.

The Army used them in Germany. They flew all night long, leaving around 2200 and coming back between 0400 and 0600. They were used for reconnaissance and overflight of Warsaw Pact/East German territory. I was an Army M.P. at Stuttgart Army Airfield in 1984, and the Bronco definitely flew out of there at the times I noted above. The turboprop engines are the source of my tinnitus, and hearing loss, since the taxiway they used inbound and outbound was just short of 100 feet from my barracks window. Yes... I do receive military disability as a result.

I've always liked the Bronco, there's something that's just really cool about it. If I had a pilot's license and could afford it, I'd buy a Bronco as my personal airplane.

We have one here in Beaufort SC. Mosquito Sprayer. Built an exact copy from a Kit. R/C. Also have a Big one ,R/C with a 6' Wingspan. Fly's like it is on Rails.

I worked on these ac in the corps as well as overhauled them at Cherry Point NARF

Defending somewhere like Australia I find it hard to find anything better. Capable of taking off & landing just about anywhere is fantastic. With vast oceans surrounding Australia with a relatively safe interior to operate in , shuttling SF & other small squads & equipment around the coastline or islands. Having the ability to carry decently sized missiles or drones over littoral waters or dropping sea mines or underwater drones or other littoral based weapons is a perfect environment for a twin engined light aircraft.

When I was stationed at Camp Humphreys, Korea the Army was still flying OV-10 Broncos. That was 1995.