The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was a catapult-launched, observation floatplane. The OS2U was a neat, compact mid-wing monoplane, with a big central float and small stabilising floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine. The OS2U could also operate on fixed, wheeled landing gear. For the US Navy, the OS2U was with 1519 built the most used shipboard observation aircraft, and the most popular one of World War II --- although that doesn't mean that much, the competition including failed aircraft such as the SO3C and SC. The OS2U not only served on the battleships and cruisers of the USN, but also with the Royal Navy and the USCG.
Specifications (OS2U-3)
General Characteristics
Crew: two, pilot and observer
Length: 33 ft 0 in (10.08 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10.69 m)
Height: 15 ft 1 in (4.60 m)
Wing area: 262 ft² (24 m²)
Empty: 848 lb (1,870 kg)
Loaded: lb ( kg)
Maximum takeoff: 1,234 lb (2,721 kg)
Powerplant: 1x Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-2, 443 hp (330 kW)
It was prepared for "flyaway to NAS Weeksville (Elizabeth City, North Carolina) for storage until such time as called for by the proposed NAM." However, in January 1949, it returned to NAS Norfolk and remained stored there until the summer of 1960.
n October, the Navy transferred the OS2U to the NAM and it was trucked to what is now the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland.
The Museum lent the aircraft to the USS Massachusetts Memorial at Battleship Cove, Massachusetts, in July 1968 and the Kingfisher returned to the Garber Facility in December 1980.
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