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Vought OS2U Kingfisher

1940 PEARL HARBOR WORLD WAR 2

Water OS2U Kingfisher History

The OS2U Kingfisher is a product of the aircraft company Vought and originally came in the form of VS. The 310 design was accepted by the US Navy as the prototype for the XOS2U-1.

The prototype was to be flown into the air for testing in 1938 and would feature a Pratt & Whitney R-985-4 Wasp Junior radial piston engine producing 450 horsepower. After passing U.S.

Navy testing, the system received the green light for full production and operational status, as the OS2U "Kingfisher" family, as a catapult-launched seaplane, and also with some landing system modifications to accommodate runway landings.

The Kingfisher series is powered by a single engine mounted to the front of the fuselage. The two crew members sit in separate cockpit areas, with the pilot behind the engine and the rear gunner/observer in a centrally mounted cockpit position.

The aircraft is easily identified by the large centerline pontoons, which extend almost the length of the fuselage and in front of the propellers. Two additional, even smaller, stabilizing buoys were installed under each wing of the low-mounted monoplane design.

Additionally, the system can be adapted to land on land bases thanks to the interchangeable landing gear/floating system.

The weapon is a light self-defense weapon consisting of a front-firing stationary 7.62mm machine gun and a rear-mounted 7.62mm machine gun. The system is capable of carrying up to 650 pounds of external supplies and has been known to do some bombing in the air. All in all, the Kingfisher system served very faithfully during the war with Fleet Aviation (as the Kingfisher Mk I series), the US Navy and the Offshore Patrol Squadron.

A fourth variant of Kingfisher in the form of OS2U-4 was proposed but never further developed.

Specification

Basic

Year:

1940

Status:

Retired, out of service

Staff:

Production

[1,300 units]:

Water - United States

Roles

- Naval/Navigation

- Reconnaissance (RECCE)

Dimensions

Length:

33.60 ft (10.24 m)

Width:

10.95m

Height:

15.09 ft (4.6 m)

Weight

Curb Weight:

1,870 kg

MTOW:

6,001 lb (2,722 kg)

(difference: +1,878 pt)

Performance

1 x Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-2 or R-985-AN-8 450 hp air-cooled engine.

Performance

Maximum Speed:

164 mph (264 km/h; 143 knots)

Service Limit:

12,992 ft (3,960 m; 2.46 mi)

Maximum range:

1,150 miles (1,851 km; 999 nautical miles)

Rate of climb:

127 m/min

Armor

Default:

1 x 7.62mm machine gun with fixed firing position in the front

1 x 7.62mm machine gun in the rear cockpit

Optional:

Maximum ammo load up to 650 lbs (including depth charges).

Changes

XOS2U-1 - Prototype model designation; equipped with a 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-4 Wasp Junior radial piston engine.

OS2U-1 - Designation of original production model; equipped with R-985-48 engine; 54 copies made.

OS2U-2 - with R-985-50 engine; 158 copies made.

OS2U-3 - Production version appears; equipped with R-985-An02 engine; increased fuel capacity and range; improved armor protection of crew compartment; 1,006 copies made; self-sealing fuel tank; provides 2 x depth charges.

OS2U-4 - Improved model with improved tail, wings, flaps and more powerful engines; never produced.

OS2N-1 - Based on OS2U, but produced by Naval Aircraft Factory.

Kingfisher Mk I - British Fleet Aviation designation for the OS2U-3 model series, not selected until 1941; seen on trainer and catapult scout forms.