Welcome to our new e-shop! We’ve launched a faster, clearer version – now with multilingual support. For security reasons, please reset your password to access your account. After logging in, don’t forget to check and update your contact details.

OS2U Kingfisher by Adrian M Balch

As the mighty battlewagon ploughed through the waters of the Pacific few would have noticed the little aircraft perched on the ships stern. To many it was 'old, slow and ugly' while to others it was veritable life saver. The name of this unsung hero: the Vought OS2U Kingfisher. Designed initially for gunnery spotting duties the Kingfisher was lightly armed defensively although once America entered the war it soon found itself toting depth charges. Manned by a crew of two that consisted of a pilot and the guy in back who did everything else the little spotter aircraft soon earned itself a solid reputation. It was the rescue mission at Truk that made the aircraft famous. After a heavy raid upon Truk the crew spotted their  own airmen struggling in the water. Setting down the little Kingfisher soon found itself festooned in rescued aircrew. The little engine managed to drag the overweight machine to a meeting with a submarine where all were rescued, the slowly sinking aircraft being sunk. The rescue efforts of the Pacific Kingfishers plus those of the Martin Mariner (also in this series) formed the basis of the air sea rescue concept in use today. Outside of the US Navy the OS2U was flown by the USCG,USMC, the Fleet Air Arm, various Latin
American countries, the RAAF who took it to the Antarctic plus the Russian Navy. Fortunately a handful survive in preservation in Australia and the United States.

Availability Temporarily unavailable
Delivery offer
Code: 222-WP111
OS2U Kingfisher by Adrian M Balch

No product's description available

Category: Publications
EAN: 8599260021105

Be the first who will post an article to this item!

Do not fill out this field:

Alternative products

222 WP077

Derived from the earlier Curtiss 75 Hawk the P-40 Warhawk was an attempt to update the original design for more modern warfare. Unfortunately the...

Code: 222-WP077
222 WP119
Grumman F9F Panther by Kev Darling
Temporarily unavailable

When the US Navy decided to enter the jet age it was no surprise that it turned to Grumman for its first carrier borne jet fighter bomber with a...

Code: 222-WP119
222 WP052
New
Fairey Albacore by W. A. Harrison
Temporarily unavailable

Designed with both the aircraft enthusiast and the modeller in mind, this series offers a comprehensive and accurate account of a single aircraft...

Code: 222-WP052
222 WP139

The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engine high-wing pro-peller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and...

Code: 222-WP139
170 DH023

Duke Hawkins: C-160 Transall - (116 pages) EN Action, cockpit, fuselages, weapons, systems, maintenance.

Code: 170-DH023
170 DHC002

Duke Hawkins Classic: North American T-6 Harvard / Texan  (116 pages) in English

Code: 170-DHC002
16673 42062 170 dh037 tomcat 001
New

Duke Hawkins: F-14 Tomcat in EN, cat. no. 037 / ASK Distribution 170-DH037

Code: 170-DH037