![]() ![]() The FBI eventually acquired the aircraft, and operated the type for several years, assisting the apprehension of kidnappers and extortionists. The aircraft was effective at catching poachers. Postwar usage Īfter Vietnam, two YO-3As, 69-18006 and 69-18007, were used by the Louisiana Department of Fish and Game. If any abnormal noises were heard, the aircraft returned to the runway, where duct tape and other measures were employed to quiet noticeable sounds. There was no audible sound once the aircraft had passed over. This was followed by a light rushing of wind over the wings. The propeller, even at 500 feet over the maintenance area, made only a light flutter, heard just as it approached. Crew chiefs would monitor the YO-3A flying over the maintenance section prior to deployment, listening for rattles, whistles or other noises. Occasionally, daylight flights were made over the rivers. Some pilots were known to have gone unobserved over the enemy at 200 feet. The YO-3A operated silently at 1,000 feet, or lower, depending on terrestrial background noise. The laser designator system was never used. One YO-3A was equipped with a laser target designator. The mission equipment on the YO-3A was a Night Vision Aerial Periscope with infrared illuminator. Observations were initially made visually (80%), later followed on with a Night Vision Aerial Periscope developed by Xerox Electro-Optical of Pasadena, California. Shortly after, three were sent to the 220th Aviation Company, Phu Bai and two to Binh Thuy Air Base. Operational history Vietnam War įollowing combat evaluation of the QT-2s in Vietnam by the Army, nine production YO-3As were sent to Long Thanh North, Vietnam, in 1970. The YO-3A was very successful in spotting movement by the Viet Cong and North Vietnam Army (NVA) operating in South Vietnam. Nine of the eleven YO-3As produced operated in South Vietnam, at night, from 1970 to 1971 (Late June 1970 to September 1971) and, although three were destroyed in crashes, were never damaged by enemy fire or shot down. The exhaust gases are then moved through an acoustical fairing into a dissipating and resonating muffler continuing to the aft end of the fuselage. This crossover joins the right bank exhaust pipe and exits along the lower right side of the engine compartment. A crossover exhaust pipe is used to remove exhaust from the left bank of engine cylinders to the right side of the engine compartment. The YO-3A is equipped with an Asymmetrical Exhaust System. The engine cowling and firewall were lined with fiberglass material to dampen and contain engine noise. Originally equipped with a six-bladed ground-adjustable-pitch propeller, this was replaced in March 1971 with a three-bladed laminated constant-speed wooden propeller designed by Ole Fahlin. The engine is coupled to a slow-turning propeller through a belt pulley-drive system. The YO-3A was powered by an air-cooled, six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, fuel-injected, Continental Model No. The YO-3A has retractable tailwheel-type landing gear. The engine cover, canopy, engine exhaust shroud, wing-root fairings, and wheel-well fairings were constructed of fiberglass. The control surfaces of the YO-3A including the ailerons and rudder are fabric-covered. ![]() The YO-3A is an all-metal low-wing monoplane of semi-monocoque construction. The observer is located at the front of the cockpit. Two crew members (a pilot and an observer) are seated in tandem. Like the QT-2PC, the YO-3A has a large wingspan and a larger canopy area for observation. This aircraft's design was also based on the Schweizer SGS 2-32 glider. įollowing operational trials with the QT-2PC in Vietnam, a production aircraft, designated the YO-3A was ordered. The QT-2PC had a silenced engine and a slow-turning propeller for quiet operation. The prototype QT-2s were then modified to the QT-2PC "PRIZE CREW" configuration. In 1966, the company built two QT-2 "Quiet Thrusters", using modified Schweizer SGS 2-32 gliders. Lockheed Missiles and Space Company located in Sunnyvale, California was contracted to produce two prototype aircraft. The YO-3A was designed to a United States Army specification of 1968, which called for an observation aircraft that would be acoustically undetectable from the ground when flying at an altitude of 1,500 feet (457 m) at night. ![]()
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