AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 127 / 347

Plate 127 of 347 · Second World War · Observation and scout floatplane

Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher

OS2U-3 BuNo 5909, painted as Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher BuNo 5909, coded ‘13’, as displayed hanging at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia: a two-seat US Navy observation and scout floatplane, catapulted from battleships and cruisers, with a Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial and a two-bladed propeller, a long glazed canopy over pilot and observer, a low wing spanning 10.95 m, and a single large central float on a pylon and struts with a small float under each wing tip, shown level on its floats: overall light grey, the white star with red centre in a blue disc on both sides of the fuselage and above and below the wings, a rudder in thirteen red and white stripes, black ‘13’ on the cowling and fuselage, ‘NAVY’ and ‘5909’ in small black letters on the fin, a red band and black hatches on the main float, black walkways at the wing roots, and a black propeller with red, yellow and blue tips (shape from an OS2U float-plane three-view checked against a cutaway drawing and photographs of this aircraft).

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher BuNo 5909, coded ‘13’, as displayed hanging at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia: a two-seat US Navy observation and scout floatplane, catapulted from battleships and cruisers, with a Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial and a two-bladed propeller, a long glazed canopy over pilot and observer, a low wing spanning 10.95 m, and a single large central float on a pylon and struts with a small float under each wing tip, shown level on its floats: overall light grey, the white star with red centre in a blue disc on both sides of the fuselage and above and below the wings, a rudder in thirteen red and white stripes, black ‘13’ on the cowling and fuselage, ‘NAVY’ and ‘5909’ in small black letters on the fin, a red band and black hatches on the main float, black walkways at the wing roots, and a black propeller with red, yellow and blue tips (shape from an OS2U float-plane three-view checked against a cutaway drawing and photographs of this aircraft). Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.1 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (OS2U-3); engine, crew and dimensions are for the OS2U-3 BuNo 5909 modelled here.

History

The OS2U-3 Kingfisher

In the mid-1930s the US Navy wanted a new observation floatplane for its battleships and cruisers, to be fired off a catapult, spot the fall of the ships’ shells and come back to land on the sea alongside to be hoisted aboard. Vought’s answer, designed by Rex Beisel, was a compact two-seat monoplane with a Wasp Junior radial, a long glazed canopy over pilot and observer, and flaps and spoilers that let it fly slowly. It was the first production aircraft built with spot-welded joints, which gave a smooth fuselage with less drag than riveting. The prototype XOS2U-1 first flew in July 1938.

The first Kingfishers reached the fleet in August 1940, and by the time the United States entered the war they were aboard most of its battleships and many of its cruisers. They could be changed from floats to wheels in a few hours, and landplane versions flew anti-submarine patrols from shore bases. Vought built 1,219 and the Naval Aircraft Factory another 300 as the OS2N-1, 1,519 in all. The Royal Navy took 100 under Lend-Lease as the Kingfisher I, and others went to the US Coast Guard, Australia and several Latin American air arms.

In the Pacific the Kingfisher spotted for the battleships’ guns at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, flew patrols against submarines, and became best known for rescue work, landing alongside downed airmen in the open sea and often taxiing home with them riding on the wings. In November 1942 Kingfishers found and recovered Eddie Rickenbacker, the First World War ace, and his companions after three weeks adrift in life rafts. After the war the Navy replaced its battleship floatplanes with helicopters, and the type was soon retired.

This airframe

OS2U-3 Kingfisher BuNo 5909

BuNo 5909The airframe modelled

BuNo 5909 was accepted by the US Navy on 15 March 1942 and was set aside for the Smithsonian’s National Air Museum the following year. It was lent for many years to the USS Massachusetts memorial at Battleship Cove, Fall River, where long exposure outdoors damaged it, then restored at the Smithsonian’s Garber facility and painted with the fuselage number 13. Since December 2003 it has hung from the ceiling of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. None is in a UK museum. The model shows it as displayed, level on its floats: overall light grey, the white star with a red centre on both sides of the fuselage and above and below the wings, a rudder in thirteen red and white stripes, black ‘13’ on the cowling and fuselage, ‘NAVY’ and ‘5909’ in small letters on the fin, a red band and black hatches on the main float, black walkways at the wing roots, and a black propeller with red, yellow and blue tips. Its shape comes from an OS2U float-plane three-view, checked against a cutaway drawing and photographs of this aircraft. The upper port and lower starboard wing stars are assumed by symmetry, as no photograph shows them.

Where to see one

Not on charge

Survivors are in the United States, including ones aboard the battleships USS North Carolina and USS Alabama. None is in a UK museum.

All 347 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.