Is this a joke? Would it have been able to get off the ground? Lima 20A ( Long Tieng , Laos) was about 3200ft ASL. Normal load out for an O-1 was 8X 2.75 WP rockets. Engines were tuned at Naked Fanny (500 ft ASL) , and from what I read wheezed up in the hills. (I know the M1919 on the cowl was for looks. Wonder if the back seater might use it out the side window?)
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My guess a joke. The wing cannot support that weight.
âArmament consisted of two .50-caliber machine guns plus six air-to-ground rockets of four target-marking smoke bombs on underwing pylons. Other options included two 250-pound bombs, a chemical spray tank or an aerial container for dropping supplies.â
https://www.hurlburt.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Fact-Sheets/Article/204580/o-1e-bird-dog/#:~:text=Pilot%20and%20co-pilot%2Fobserver,smoke%20bombs%20on%20underwing%20pylons.
A m261 rocket launcher weights:
- Empty: 87 lbs (39.46 kg) or 80 lbs (36.3kg)
- Loaded: 596 lbs
Each rocket is 27lbs.
Maybe the .50s were gun pods, couldnât find in a very quick google search but that would look cool. Again location and weather would factored on use.
More information on the photo. Donât know if itâs true or not.
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On a side note, the French Army made some tests during the Algeria war with a L-19E fitted with a pair of Matra LR181 rocket launchers (18 x 37mm SNEB rocket each) along with Alkan-Matra smoke rockets. But this was not adopted operationallyâŚ
For these tests, the Bird Dog was fitted with a T-6 gunsight
https://www.alat.fr/historiques-alat-afrique-du-nord-algerie-pmah-19e-di-experimentations.html
H.P.
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itâs an interesting picture for sure. Iâm sure âthe ravensâ have an organisation for veterans and it would be these chaps that i would contact directly for clarification as the internet is full of liars, cheats, scoundrels and FBI agents 
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" A heavy machine gun mounted on the nose would require reinforcements in the airframe" Did not know the .30 cal.M1919 was classed as a âHeavy Machine Gunâ⌠(Being in Hmong country doubt it is a Mk21,Mod 0, 7.62mm NATO one) Note it has the bipod and pistol grip fitted. There is a helmet between it and the camera.
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âA heavy machine gun mounted on the nose would require reinforcements in the airframeâ
Synchronisation?
Cheers,
M
Blockquote
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Bet âHot & Highâ made those test flights a thrill a minute.
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First, need a cutout in the windscreen for the pilot to reach through and pull the
trigger.
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But âRavensâ did not exist⌠( I wasnt there, nobody saw me. You cant prove a thing.) There damn few back then and probably damn fewer 60 years on. Can probably hold the annual reunion in a phone booth.
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I bet there were more field tests for smoke rockets. 8 or 10 rockets would be useful⌠unless you did not want the enemy to know they have been spotted.
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they probably attend that SOAR reunion, there have been at least 2 books by some of the pilots
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I didnât know that about the .30 cal but also that is what the links said not me. I think it was placed there for a photo op and if used was place outside a side window. The Synchronization that Tom mention is a bigger issue than the also needed support for any weapon system on the nose.
The link also mentioned it probably was not a O-1 ( I know the photo is labeled that) but a different version of a bird dog/other aircraft type. Makes sense as the O-1 couldnât carry such a heavy rocket system. I couldnât quickly find any stats for the other aircraft mentioned in the link and what they are rated to carry. Just my guess.
O-1 IS the Birddog. Like the P-51 is the Mustang. Other âspottersâ were the O-2 Skymaster (Mixmaster), OV-10 Bronco, OV-1 Mohawk. USMC used another type ⌠U-17 comes to mind. Air America used their small fixed wings and helos for target marking using smoke grenades as poor mans FACs mostly in Laos. In a different category, USAF used 2 seater F-100 and USMC TF-9J as fast FACs. And photo is definitely a Cessna L-19/O-1 /Cessna 305A
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According to the linked article, the added weigth induced too much roll inertiaâŚ
H.P.
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Ok. I was going off the link where mentioned different Cessna options. I think we can agree a P-51 (first version) and P-51H are not really the same aircraft other than having the name of mustang.
For the L-19/O-1 is like 20 L-19 versions and 7 different Cessna types. Some will work for a version in the photo and other will not, like later ones with the square tail. Some of those might able to carry the rocket pod legitimately, cannot find all the data to one way or the other but I am still leaning towards staged.
Gomers in that post dont know a Cessna from a Piper. Helen Keller could tell that is an O-1. OE-2 was the spotter I could not remember. (OE-2 (Cessna 321)
Redesigned version for USMC with Cessna 180 wings, 260 hp (190 kW) Continental O-470-2 and modified fuselage, became O-1C in 1962, 27 built )
Its an O-1 with a different wing, bigger engine, redesigned fuselage, enlarged tail ⌠Like the F-18C and the F-18E. âSo how much better did their OE-2 perform than the L-19? Its level high speed was about 40% better, achieved with 24% higher rated horsepower, and its range almost 50% greater, due to about 15% more usable fuel and much better cruise efficiency.â
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