Thread by @USAS_WW1

#avgeek #aviation #USNavy #airplane - Vought OS2U Kingfisher; 1519 built starting 1938. Used by US Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Air Force and the Soviet Navy. 450 hp; 1 x .30 cal (one fixed forward; one ring mounted in back) + bombs or depth charges. 1/

2/ OS=Observation Scout, U=Vought and 2=2nd plane by Vought for Observation Scout duty. Some had wheels vs floats. Were they convertible or built that way? OS2Us flew from land, naval air stations, or were catapult-launched off battleships, heavy cruisers or light cruisers.

3/ OS2Us sat atop a launch car sled on the catapult. An electric motor turned the catapult 30 degrees off the bow as the ship sailed into the wind. A 5" smokeless powder charge rammed the car to 80 mph in .5 seconds, retention pins dropped and the plane was off!

4/ The catapults were Type P Mark 6 about 70' long and 5' wide. A ship needed enough room on the fantail for one or two and a crane to pick the plane up after it landed to return it to the catapult. Sources: navsource.org/archives/01/57…; battleshipnc.com/launching-the-…. USS Alabama↗️↙️↘️.

5/ OS2Us were for spotting where ship gunfire landed, reconnaissance, SAR (search and rescue), etc. Engine: 1 x Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN2 Wasp 9-cyl. air-cooled radial, 450 hp. They'd cruise at 152 mph with a range of 908 miles (per wiki). Thus they could fly 6 hours?

6/ OS2Us had a forward fixed .30 cal (where?) and a Scarff ring mounted .30 cal in back. The seat rotated and tilted back permitting the gun to train all over and re-holster into the rear fuselage. It could haul 650 lb of bombs or depth charges for anti-submarine warfare (#ASW).

7/ Maybe the front .30 cal (7.62mm) fired through the spinner or perhaps just above it from within the cowling frame? Note "machine gun port" on forward wing root↙️. Is that for firing or for spent casings? Does it also show up in ↘️? #Mystery

8/ OS2Us rescued #WW1 ace of aces Eddie Rickenbacker when he went down in a Boeing B-17 with several others in WW2. OS2Us would land at about 55 mph as close to their ship as possible. A launch could tow them under the crane for recovery and re-placement on the catapult.

9/ There are four Vought OS2U Kingfishers at US museums. ↖ This one on USS North Carolina's fantail is in Wilmington, NC. ↗️is at USS Alabama in Mobile, AL.↙️is at @NASM Udvar Hazy, Washington, DC.↘️is at @NavalMuseum, Pensacola, Florida! Corrections? Please let me know.