USS Missouri recovers a Vought OS2U Kingfisher during her 1944 shakedown cruise. Note the catapult below the plane, which was used to launch the planes off the battleship.

The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was a American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a big central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine. The OS2U could also operate on fixed, wheeled, taildragger landing gear. Image File history File links OS2U kingfisher aircraft flying in echelon formation. ... An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... The VE-7 was the first plane to make a US carrier takeoff. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1938: Events Imperial Airways inaugurates scheduled service from London to Montreal. ... USN redirects here. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (585x744, 96 KB)A Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane is hoisted on board after a flight, during the ships shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (585x744, 96 KB)A Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane is hoisted on board after a flight, during the ships shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. ... Radars: AN/SPS-49 Air Search Radar AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar Fire control: 4 × Mk 37 Gun Fire Control 2 × Mk 38 Gun Director 1 × Mk 40 Gun Director EW: AN/SLQ-32 Other: AN/SLQ-25 NIXIE Decoy System 8 × Super Rapid Bloom Rocket Launchers (SRBOC) Armor... The VE-7 was the first plane to make a US carrier takeoff. ... u suk usuk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk usuk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk{| class=wikitable |- ! header 1 ! header 2 ! header 3 |- | row 1, cell 1 | row 1... A DeHavilland Single Otter floatplane in Harbour Air livery A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land on water. ... A monoplane is an aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. ... The radial engine is an internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel. ... The Piper Super Cub is a popular taildragger aircraft. ...

The OS2U was the main shipboard observation aircraft used by the United States Navy during World War II, and 1,519 of the aircraft were built. It served on battleships and cruisers of the US Navy, and with the US Coast Guard, the Royal Navy and the Soviet Navy. The Royal Australian Air Force also operated a few Kingfishers from shore bases. Flying machine redirects here. ... USN redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... USCG HH-65 Dolphin USCG HH-60J JayHawk USCG HC-130H departs Mojave USCG HC-130H on International Ice Patrol duties The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is at all times a branch of the U.S. military, a maritime law enforcement agency, and a federal regulatory body. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР, Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR, literally Naval military forces of the USSR) was the naval arm of the Soviet armed forces. ... The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the Air Force branch of the Australian Defence Force. ...

The Naval Aircraft Factory OS2N was the designation of the OS2U-3 aircraft built by the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The OS2U first flew on March 1, 1938. Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ...

Variants

XO2SU-1

Prototype Vought Model VS.310 powered by a 450hp (336kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-4 engine, one built.

OS2U-1

Initial production variant as the prototype but powered by a 450hp (336kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-48, 54 built.

OS2U-2

Production variant with minor equipment changes and powered by a 450hp (336kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-50, 158 built.

OS2U-3

Based on the 02SU-2 with self-sealing fuel tanks, armour protection, two 0.3 in guns (dorsal and nose mounted), and able to carry 325lb (147kg) of depth charges or 100lb (45kg) bombs, powered by a 450hp (336kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN2 engine, 1006 built.

OS2U-4

Two aircraft converted with narrow-chord and high-aspect ratio wings, also fitted with full-span flaps. Not developed.

OS2N-1

Naval Aircraft Factory built 02SU-3 with a 450hp (336kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-2 or -AN-8 engine, 300 built.

Kingfisher I

British designation for the OS2U-3, 100 delivered to the Royal Navy.

The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ... The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ... The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ... The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ... The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ...

Operators

•  Argentina (nine)
•  Australia - Royal Australian Air Force
•  Chile (fifteen)
•  Cuba
•  Dominican Republic (three)
•  Mexico (six, 201 Squadron)
•  Netherlands (twenty-four not delivered in time)
•  Soviet Union
•  United Kingdom: Royal Navy (one hundred)
•  United States United States Navy US Coast Guard (forty)
•  Uruguay (six)

Image File history File links Flag_of_Argentina. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the Air Force branch of the Australian Defence Force. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Chile. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cuba. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Dominican_Republic. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Mexico. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... USN redirects here. ... Coast Guard shield The United States Coast Guard is the coast guard of the United States. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uruguay. ...

Survivors

At least nine Kingfishers seem to be still around in museums all over the world ^[1]. There is one at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida (obtained in 1971 from the Uruguayan Navy)^[2][3]

Two Kingfishers are to be found on battleships: One on the battleship Alabama in Mobile, Alabama ^[4] and one on board the battleship North Carolina. With the assistance of an RCAF Piaseki helicopter, Lynn Garrison salvaged this Kingfisher from Calvert Island, off British Columbia during the winter of 1963. It crashed there on a ferry flight to Alaska during World War Two. Garrison then donated it to the North Carolina Battleship Commission. It was restored for display by volunteers at Vought Aeronautics in Grand Prairie, Texas. Another Kingfisher on display is to be seen at the National Air and Space Museum outside of Washington DC. ^[5] National Air and Space Museum exterior The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. ...

At the Yanks Air Museum at Chino, California there is a Kingfisher waiting 'to be restored', and one at Palm Springs Air Museum north of Palm Springs International Airport has recently been brought back to a nice state^[6] as needs to be done with one at Whale World, Albany, Western Australia^[7]. In the Museo Nacional Aeronáutico y del Espacio de Chile, Santiago there is a restored Kingfisher^[8], as is one at Museum of the Revolution (Museo de la Revolución), Havana, Cuba. The latter is equipped with a 'fixed gear'. It has since been relocated to the Museo del Aire in Havana ^[9] The Yanks Air Museum is a non-profit organization focused on American aviation located at the Chino Airport in Chino, California. ... Grumman F8F at Palm Springs Museum FG-1D By Goodyear at Palm Springs Museum TomCat at Palm Springs Air Museum The Palm Springs Air Museum, is a non-profit educational institution, whose mission is to exhibit, educate and eternalize the role of the World War II combat aircraft and the... Palm Springs International Airport (IATA: PSP, ICAO: KPSP, National LID: PSP) is a public airport located two miles (3 km) east of the central business district (CBD) of Palm Springs, California, serving the Coachella Valley area of Riverside County. ... Museo de la Revolución The Museum of the Revolution (Spanish: Museo de la Revolución) is a museum about the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, located in Havana, Cuba. ...

Specifications (OS2U-3)

Two Australian Kingfisher aircraft in 1942

Data from "The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft" Editors: Paul Eden & Soph Moeng, ISBN 0-7607-3432-1, page 1128

General characteristics

• Crew: Two, pilot and observer
• Length: 33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
• Wingspan: 35 ft 11 in (10.95 m)
• Height: 15 ft 1.5 in (4.61 m)
• Wing area: 262 ft² (24 m²)
• Empty weight: 4,123 lb (1,870 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 6,000 lb (2,721 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-2 radial engine, 450 hp (336 kW)

Performance The distance AB is the wing span of this Aer Lingus Airbus A320. ... In aviation, the Maximum Take-Off Weight (or MTOW) is the maximum weight with which an aircraft can achieve flight. ... The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ... The radial engine is an internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel. ...

• Maximum speed: 164 mph (264 km/h)
• Range: 805 mi (1,296 km)
• Service ceiling 13,000 ft (3,960 m)

Armament V speeds are speeds that define certain performance and limiting characteristics of an aircraft. ... The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft, or cross-country speed and environmental conditions in unpowered aircraft. ... In aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditons The service ceiling attempts to capture the maximum usable altitude of an aircraft. ...

• 2x .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns
• 650 lb (295 kg) of bombs

The Browning M1919 was a . ...

See also

Comparable aircraft

• Arado Ar 196
• Aichi E13A
  

The Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance aircraft built by Arado starting in 1936. ... The Aichi E13A (Allied reporting name: Jake) was a longe-range reconaissance seaplane used by the Japanese Imperial Navy from 1941 to 1945. ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Wainwright, Marshall. "Kingfisher goes to war" Air Classics, June 2004.
• Old, slow and ugly