OV-10 vs ISIS
 

Decades-old OV-10 Bronco planes used against ISIS - CNNPolitics.com

I thought these were long gone from service, but apparently I was wrong. Who is flying these?

I was surprised, too. I have friends that flew out of Naked Fanny in the early seventies.

GF

Saw a black OV-10 taxi past the ramp in Nassau several years ago and asked on the radio who they were. They just said "State Department". :confused:

Outstanding! Sweet find and thanks for posting. I have long felt that the OV-10s were retired way too soon!

I flew the OV-10A from 84-87. The "State Dept" airplanes still fly out of Patrick AFB (last I knew), because that was where the training base (RTU) and experienced mechanics were.

They were doing counter-drug stuff up through the mid 90s, that I knew of. "Somewhere South." It was a shooting war, and allegedly, the planes would land at Patrick at night, to be immediately wheeled in to a hangar...so no one would see the bullet holes in planes flown by "civilians."

When I was getting out of active duty in the 90s, I looked into one of their job listings....but decided the money they paid was not worth being skinned alive by a drug cartel.

The A-model has pretty poor altitude performance single-engine, even when clean and feathered, if the temperature is over 90F. I was stationed at Victorville, and the single-engine ceiling during the summer was 800 ft underground.

Most of us would say it was a very rugged airplane, a fun mission (FAC), but a little underpowered. It is a drag-machine. You'd look at the rudder pedals, which said "North American Aviation" (just like a Mustang), and think "How can an airplane from the same company, with the same/better power, and similar weight, be so $&@#%! slow?!?!? It would do about 220 IAS, on a good day, if you were bending the stops on the throttles.

The Marines flew As and some D-models. The Ds have almost 50% more power, but most of them were significantly heavier...having either a nose turret, or IR turret. They would perform only slightly better single-engine than an A-model.

Put the D-engines on an A-airframe, and it would be pretty awesome.

Of note: the airplanes have NO air conditioning, just an outside air scoop. That would blow (hot air) in the deserts of Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan. ;)

When it as discovered, after the Marines lost at least two of them in the first Gulf War, that low and slow over the *somewhat* modern battlefield of even the lower numbered MANPADS, that it was time to retire the aircraft.

The DoS OV-10 airplanes were retired several years ago, and the operations in Plan Colombia have been halted due to a prohibition on glyphosate that was used to spray poppies and coca. The DoS OV-10's, operated by EAST and maintained by DynCorp, were D models converted to the OV-10G, for "government," which was revitalized a few years ago in a bid to bring them back as current generation COIN platforms. That effort didn't pan out.

The OV10's did feature air conditioning, such as it was, but it never worked well. The D/G models were okay for low land work on coca, but not for the higher altitude poppy operations, where Ayers Thrush T-65s and Air Tractor 802's were used. The OV-10 turned out to be a 300 gallon airplane at best (in terms of glyphosate load).

Counternarcotic operations were in full swing until October of last year as an ongoing part of Plan Colombia.

There was no need to hide the aircraft and pretend they weren't getting shot up. It's well known, and there were plenty of aircraft that flow back for repair; all the aircraft in Colombia feature patches and plugs from small arms fire and other weapons; all feature armor on the engines, self sealing fuel tanks, etc.

DoS airplanes are dark blue, not black.

Presently The Thrush, marketed as the Arch Angel, the 802U, and the OV-10 are in use in the middle east in Iraq, and in Yemen, with training operations in Jordan and UAE.

I believe you are correct....two lost, and I think both D-models. I don't know about the Marine birds, but most of ours had NO RWR (those that did had an ALR-46), and NONE had chaff, flares, or jamming pods.

The As had zero A/C....so they must have added it to the D (I never flew a D).

We had this discussion many moons ago: I still think a PT6-powered P-82 twin Mustang would REALLY be a great CAS airplane in the desert. 400-kt dash speed, 4000lb weapon load, 6 hours endurance.

But no service would go for a tail-dragger.

Both the 802U and the Thrush are in active service now.

Good point.

Mil-service, or Government Agency?

I meant it unlikely the Air Force would...and probably not the Navy or Marines.

Thanks for all the info guys, I'd love to fly one of these.

Everyone loves the Bronco. It looks cool. Its fun to watch at airshows. Watching jumpers tumble out the back of one that does a low pass over the runway then pulls up into the vertical is fun.

Combat? Well....I think Desert Storm answered that. One squadron deployed, and had two planes lost to MANPADs. Three POWs, and 1 KIA. Yep...the plane is cheaper to operate than an A-10, but at what price? Remember the parade of bruised and beaten faces on TV during Desert Storm? That's what we will see a lot of when you put slow moving antiques into a battle against a capable threat.

I flew the OV10 for two years. Loved it, and was a bitter man when we got deployed as Ground FACS vice Air FACs to Desert Storm. The after action review indicates maybe that was a smart choice after all. The Marine Ds were more capable than our As, but were still shot down.

Had a friend who bailed out of when he lost an engine while in New Mexico. As T-38 above mentioned, the single engine ceiling is pretty much N/A. The airplane is not build to ditch, and while it is STOL that performance comes from engines pushing air over the wings. Its a miserable glider, and off airport landings were not recommended.

Would I enjoy shooting rockets with flechettes at ISIS positions? Who wouldn't? The reality, however is that canopy is plexiglass, and history has proven getting into gunfights with AAA kills attack pilots. The Air Force removed the guns from the sponsons for this very reason.

There is an aircraft well suited for a FAC-A mission. It also has a "10" in its name. The NAIL FACS also lost at least 2 in Desert Storm, but they were in position to do some pretty good damage to the bad guys. The OV-10 might be suitable, but eventually an SA-7 or -16 is going to show up and ruin someone's day. And then we'll be sending in bigger iron and trying to rescue a POW somewhere.

If someone wants to resurrect a past plane, then go find some Skyraiders. Google Bernie Fisher for a profile of a man's man....

Gees, what are you guys tell gonna me next? The Iowas aren't coming back?


So riddle me this, what makes the Super Tucano viable and the OV-10 not?

They aren't in comparable threat environments.

Just came across this article:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...ight-isis.html