The Airforce of The Republic of El Salvador in Central America uses the Cessna Skymaster O-2A and Cessna Skymaster O-2B variants and also has a Cessna 337 Civilian variant and both O-2A and O-2B variants were used by the Salvadoran Airforce during the Salvadoran Civil War from 1981 to 1992.
Nice video about an almost-forgotten plane! Trivia: the O1 "Birddog" was originally designated by the Army as the L-19. O1 came from the McNamara era when he had all services' planes designated into a common system. One trick from Vietnam was that the light observation pilot would fly along but often look backwards as it is human nature to raise your head and look at the departing aircraft. Then the face would show from the air.
O1 Bird Dog video when Edit: Trivia Fact: Major Lý Bửng was the first Vietnamese pilot to land an airplane, (his personal O-1 Bird Dog with his family) on the USS Midway
@@L_Train The word "literally" has been used to mean figuratively for almost as long as the word literally has existed. People have always liked to exaggerate for effect, even when the result makes no sense.
Skymasters are still used by fire services today in Australia for aerial asset control and spotting during bushfires. Most if not all are military versions with door windows and are fully aerobaticly stressed.
If anyone wants to read more about the Skymaster in combat I can recommend "Here There Are Tigers" great read, what FAC pilots did is truly incredible and often overlooked
My pops who flew planes looking for wildfires for the canadian government said these were one of his favorite planes to fly. Very easy to fly, controllable at lower speeds, and reliable.
I got a chance to see an abandoned Skymaster up close and walk around it. Such a cool and unique aircraft, so this vid was a must watch, amazing as always!
I've always liked the way the Skymaster looked. Seeing clips of "Project X" reminded me of China teaching Pandas to fly airplanes. Few people realize that Pandas are as good at flying the Skymaster as chimpanzees. The Pandas heavier weight is the main reason we don't see many Panda pilots these days. Thanks for another fun and interesting video Johnny.
Commenting on the O-2 being overweight and underpowered, a favorite joke among its pilots was, “The Oscar Deuce is actually a single engine aircraft…with half the engine on front and half in the back.”
Hensel Field, Camp Enari, Pleiku, S. Viet Nam. 68'-69'. While waiting for the courier plane from Nha Trang I watched one of those land. The passenger (looked like an AF lifer) got out. Waved goodbye to the pilot and started to walk on. That's when he remembered that there was also a front engine on that puppy. Well, I was instantly freaked out. Fortunately the lifer made a pirouette around that prop that would make a prima ballerina jump for joy. To this day that memory still kinda freaks me out. It would not have been a pretty sight. 😮
Hey there Johnny. Not sure where I saw it, but it was definitely in an old aircraft magazine and may be why I love this plane so much. But when I was younger their was some picture of this Skymaster that was jury rigged and add hoc I think by the pilot who flew it in Vietnam. He had the rocket positions of course and the thing as I recall could also mount a 7.62 mini-gun pod on each wing with an ammo feed can inboard of the pods. But this mad lad didn't settle for that. He had put two old 1919 browning on his roof firing over the prop like some WW1 biplane. I can't remember if they were the fast firing AN variant for aircraft or not.
I used to work near an airfield were there was both an O-1 and an O-2. One day both of them took off together and started flying circuits around the airfield which I quickly realised was a race between them both. Interestingly whereas the O-2 was faster on the straight the O-1 could turn faster in the corners and would catch up. Once they realised neither could win they landed again. So the O-2 would get to the target quicker but the O-1 was more agile once there and searching for the enemy. I did read something about loses the O-1 in Viet Nam. The most common mistake made by the pilot was making a pass which included flying over the enemy. At that point any enemy who could see the O-1 would shoot at it as once it was eliminated they could attack without interference.
Love me some Skymaster. My fave small plane for sure. Anyone ever noticed that in Behind Enemy Lines that Gene Hackman is the man rescuing the downed pilot, the reverse of the role he played in Bat 21?
The O-1/L-19 was a modified Cessna 170, with the 4-place fuselage narrowed to a two-holer. Mixmasters were also used as ground-attack aircraft -- made under license by French manufacturer Reims, they were inexpensive, easy to fly and (being civilian planes) not subject to End User Certificate regulations. Rhodesia mounted two Maxim guns above the cockpit, with bins to feed ammunition and collect empty brass. Easy on fuel (thus plenty of loiter time) and able to carry a LOT of ammunition, they were a key part of the "Fire Force" anti-terrorist response.
Rhodesia also used them against communist insurgents during the Rhodesian Bush War. They were civilian variants but have been modified to carry gun pods.
I bought a 1972 CF-337 (French licensed production of the Skymaster) a few years back and this plane is incredible to fly, the windshield being a bit more forward of the wing improves visibility greatly and it's a peppy little piston at low altitude. I find it to be an absolute blast. The mechanics hate it, though.
@@jefferyroy2566 Well for starters he's a mechanic, so he likes to complain (I kid, I kid). Mainly it think it's that the #2 engine is more difficult to access than on more traditional twin engine layouts. My plane had to have its main hydraulic actuator replaced which was an endeavor since it was riveted directly toy the structure in the most inconvenient location on the belly of the aircraft. It took three of us a full work week to access and remove it, then get the overhauled unit in. Considering the actuator we pulled out was the original 1972 part that rolled off the assembly line, I'm hoping to get another 50 years out of the one we installed.
A friend of my Dad's was a WWII Air Force vet. He had a Cessna 337 as a civilian. One of the engines quit and he made a hard landing. The aft power plant came forward on impact and he was severely injured.
I flew as a observer in the obsolete O1 Bird Dog I was always scared of ground fire, this aircraft was the modern replacement for the O-1 . The Air Force 0-2 were called Elliot and were at Kontum, I was at Dakto
Another interesting thing about O2 and the civilian model its based on is the duck like landing gear . By that the 2 main gear legs retract backwards and into the body like a duck etc
Incorrect. The civilian version of the Cessna 336. The C337 was the pressurized version with better engines. The O-2A was based on the 336 and was not pressurized.@@robert43g
COIN craft like this sure are quite underrated nowadays. Say, with that Battle of the Bulge bit in mind, any plans to make a video about the FH-1, which anachronistically showed up in the 1976 Midway film as a crashing SBD Dauntless stand-in?
Watching these old clips from Vietnam I always hope to see my plane. My O-2A was in Vietnam from 67-71. I have yet to find any photos or videos of my plane while in country. I know she was there, she has the patched bullet holes to prove her service.
Have a few hours as a spotter in 3 of them we had in Vietnam putting in air strikes for the 21st TASS..One of them is in Ft Walton FL at the Eglin Armament Museum..#864
After all these years I found the plane that supported my ARVN BATTALION THAT I WAS ADVISOR TO,MAN I TELL YOU THAT PILOT WAS A SURE ENOUGH HOT SHOT,IVE SERCHED FOR THAT AIRCRAFT MANY TIMES NEVER WAS ABLE TO PIN IT DOWN UNTIL NOW,WE WERE IN CHOU DOC SEVEN MOUNTAINS AREA, THE PLANE WAS NAVY.1970-71
Crazy... I just recently read Stephen King's "The Night Flier" and watched the movie based on it and they both feature the Skymaster as the antagonist's plane.
The 337 was perfect for counter insurgency, its roll rate is phenomenal, when the US army were evaluating twins for this role, the Cessna won hands down
Nice! I just saw one fly into our local airport the other day😀 Bird Dogs were used to tow us up to altitude when flying gliders in Air Cadets oh so many years ago.
when it comes to FAC aircraft of VN Era, this thing was one of my favorites because as a Boy early 70s i buyed a Airfix model of the Bird Dog. A vid about the Armys armed OV-1A version the JOV-1A Mohawk would be fine.
I presume the Battle of the Bulge thing was meant to be a Fiesler Storch? I don't think there were too many Lysanders in North Africa though that would be another possibility I suppose.
I remember back in the day, Cuban Americans bought a few of these planes and helped guide Cubans in rafts to the U.S. The Cuban government shot these planes down with Mig-29s over international waters.
A distant relative of mine flew these types of planes in Vietnam and only spoke it's semi length about it once however he did like to keep going back to the anecdote of how they would use bows and arrows to try to shoot them out of the sky. Do you think that was just an experience unique to him or did other pilots in Internet land experience that as well? I'm serious he never joked about his service or the war.
0:52 To be fair, it DOES look an awful lot like the Piper J-3 Cub, which is not exactly anachronistic. It's like putting a PM Makarov in place of the Walther PPK - Sure, there are differences, but they are similar enough to be a good replacement.
Johnny thanks for the video. One minor correction...if the rear engine quits you will definately know it. It's akin to throwing out a very heavy anchor. Don't ask me how I know. 8oo hours in the "Deuce"circa 1968.
You're kinda close -- the original version of this (Cessna 336) was intended as a multi-engine "next step up" for Cessna 182 pilots. It sold like coldcakes because of the fixed landing gear, and the retractable-gear 337 soon replaced it on the line. The O-2 is a military model of the 337.
We saw them flying low over tree tops trying to draw ground fire. When they did, they would fire a couple of Willy Pete to mark the location. Then they would split. Then it was time to look for the F-4s dive bombing the smoke.
Johnny I've been watching your videos for a while, interesting, entertaining & quite good; that being said, I'm a old guy, please you need to use miles vs. kilometers, mph vs. Kph feel me? In the Corps we would say, "Outfuckingstanding." Carry on.
In Nam. We were taking on fuel at Dian Phu Loi tower went on guard a C.C. huey was down a push pull was on station he said a 101 was expediting our Cobra took over.
"Go out in a slow bird come home in a Jolly Green". In Vietnam the 20TASS had pilots from Australia and New Zealand, and they would paint kills on the nose of their aircraft. US Pilots couldn't do that. One poor pilot wasn't having any luck because his assignment was a quiet free fire zone. He thought he got lucky once but the next day he had three elephants and a dog painted on the nose. Everyone else had stick figures with bamboo hats for 10 kills and trucks. O2As were out of balance due to all the radios and equipment in the cockpit. The elevator wasn't centered and acted like a plow. A civilian Cessna 337 will leave one in the dust.
"The Battle of the Bulge" (1965) has so many mistakes it's funny. I think the Cessna in that movie crashes. And by the way, South Vietnam had acquired at least 35 of these Cessna o-2 Skymasters from the Americans.🦆🌭
You don't know, we sent a whole squadron of beagles in flying dog houses in the second world war.....maybe we did send a squadron of chimps somewhere.....
