Vought OS2U

Vought OS2U Kingfisher
Type:	Reconnaissance plane
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Vought
First flight:	March 1, 1938 (as a land plane) May 19, 1938 (as a seaplane)
Commissioning:	August 1940
Production time:	1940 to 1942
Number of pieces:	1519

The Vought OS2U Kingfisher (factory designation VS 310) was a single-engine reconnaissance aircraft that could be used in many ways. The aircraft, which can be equipped with both floats and a wheeled landing gear, could be launched from large warships , among other things, with the help of an aircraft catapult . After landing, the aircraft was hoisted onto the carrier ship by crane.

history

The prototype of the seaplane variant of the OS2U flew for the first time on May 19, 1938 and was used as a catapult aircraft by the US Navy from 1940 . A total of 1519 machines were produced. In addition to the US Navy and the US Coast Guard, she was in service in many other naval forces. These included the British and Soviet navies , the Australian air force and a number of Latin American countries.

The main purposes were reconnaissance , anti -submarine defense and sea ​​rescue . The Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia built the OS2U-3 under license; this version was named OS2N-1.

construction

Maintenance work on a Kingfisher's Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine aboard the USS South Dakota , 1944

The OS2U was a compact two-seater middle - decker with a central float and two small stabilizing floats under the wing tips. It wasn't particularly powerful with its 443-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-985 AN-2 engine and was relatively slow to fly. The OS2U could also be equipped with a fixed landing gear.

production

Acceptance of the Chance-Vought Kingfisher by the US Navy:

Manufacturer	version	1940	1941	1942	TOTAL
Chance-Vought, Stratford	OS2U-1	54			54
Chance-Vought, Stratford	OS2U-2	3	155		158
Chance-Vought, Stratford	OS2U-3		369	638	1.007
Naval Aircraft, Philadelphia	OS2N-1			300	300
TOTAL		57	524	938	1,519

Countries of operation

•  Argentina (9 copies)
•  Australia (18)
•  Chile (15)
•  Dominican Republic (3)
•  Mexico (6)
•  Soviet Union : 2 under the Lend Lease Act
•  United Kingdom
•  Uruguay (8)
•  United States : Coast Guard, Navy

Technical specifications

The USS Missouri heaves an OS2U Kingfisher 1944 on board, the launch catapult for the machine under the aircraft

Parameter	Naval Aircraft Factory OS2N-1
length	10.08 m
span	10.69 m
Wing area	24 m²
height	4.60 m
drive	a radial engine Pratt & Whitney R-985 -AN-2 with 443 HP (330 kW)
Top speed	264 km / h at an altitude of 1980 m
Range	1860 km
crew	Pilot and observer
Service ceiling	3060 m
Empty mass	1870 kg
Flight mass	2722 kg
Armament	two 7.62mm machine guns , 295kg bombs

literature

• Al Adcock: OS2U Kingfisher in Action (Aircraft in Action No. 119). Squadron / Signal Publications, Inc., Carrollton 1991, ISBN 0-89747-270-5 .
• Peter M. Bowers : United States Navy Aircraft since 1911. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1990, ISBN 0-87021-792-5 , pp. 447-448.
• Thomas E. Doll, BR Jackson: Vought-Sikorsky OS2U Kingfisher. In: Aircraft in Profile. Volume 14. Profile Publications Ltd., Windsor 1974, pp. 113-136, ISBN 0-85383-023-1 , pp. 113-136.
• Paul Eden, Soph Moeng (Ed.): The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Amber Books Ltd., London 2002, ISBN 0-7607-3432-1 .
• Patrick M. Hickman: The Aircraft Collection. The Naval Aviation Museum Foundation Inc., Pensacola 2010.
• Hans-Joachim Mau, Hans Heiri Stapfer: Under the Red Star - Lend Lease Aircraft for the Soviet Union 1941–1945. Transpress, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-344-70710-8 , pp. 130-133.
• Barry Pattison: Kingfisher in the Antipodes. Red Roo Model Publications, Glen Waverly, Victoria 1998.
• Ray Sturtivant, M. Burrow: Fleet Air Arm Aircraft: 1939 to 1945. Air Britain (Historians) Ltd, Tonbridge 1995, ISBN 0-85130-232-7 .
• David Vincent: Kangaroo Kingfishers. In: Air Enthusiast . No. 77, September / October 1998, Key Publishing, Stamford UK, ISSN  0143-5450 , pp. 54-62.

Web links

Commons : Vought OS2U Kingfisher  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1946, p. 100 ff .; www.uswarplanes.net
2. ↑ Jerry Scutts: Vought Kingfisher. In: AIR International. January 1996, p. 52.
3. ↑ Hans-Joachim Mau, Hans Heiri Stapfer: Under the Red Star - Lend Lease Aircraft for the Soviet Union 1941-1945. Transpress, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-344-70710-8 , pp. 130-133.