Pictures of .... OV-10 Bronco

[Pete]

A few questions for the experts on German Broncos
1.Were the German OV-10B Broncos received new from the factory?
2.Was Germany the only operator of the OV-10B?
3.Was their only role that of target tug? No FAC mission at all?
4.Did they replace Douglas Skyraiders in that role?
5.Where they flown by civilians in support of WGAF?
6.Were the OV-10B aircraft ferried from the USA, and if so, did they have civil reg or military s/n?

From my records, it appears all OV-10D USMC derivatives were conversions of OV-10As.
USMC OV-10D 155468/ER06 of VMO-1 photographed at London, ON., 6 June 1992

I am no expert on German Broncos but this is what google learnt me [url]http://www.germanwing.de/history.htm/url]

I hope this helps a bit

Regards Pete

[dinovandoorn]

Some US Marines OV-10's

[tomh]

Thanks for the links, Pete & Mickey. Nice shots, Dino. Were they taken at Beaufort, NC?
It appears that the engines have had an IR-reduction device added on your shots.

[dinovandoorn]

The pictures are taken at NAS Atlanta, Georgia

[tomh]

OV-10A 155437 of VMO-1 photographed at Pease AFB, NH 20 August 1972

[dinovandoorn]

Found some Thai OV-10's in my collection taken at chiang Mai
The best OV-10's i ever saw...

[Trueno]

A few questions for the experts on German Broncos
1.Were the German OV-10B Broncos received new from the factory?
2.Was Germany the only operator of the OV-10B?
3.Was their only role that of target tug? No FAC mission at all?
4.Did they replace Douglas Skyraiders in that role?
5.Where they flown by civilians in support of WGAF?
6.Were the OV-10B aircraft ferried from the USA, and if so, did they have civil reg or military s/n?

As far as I know the German OV-10B came to germany with german civil registrations. The pilots that flew the Bronco's were military (Luftwaffe). However, I don't know if that was the case in the last years of OV-10B operations in Germany, as they were also used by civilian company's. Their role was target tug, and I am not aware that the Germans used them in fac Missions, but could have practiced that occasionally. The Germans were the ONLY operator of the OV-10B and all were received new from the factory. Last but not least, in 1984 the Thai Air Force was close to obtain 6 of the German Bronco's to supplement their own fleet, but the deal was cancelled for unknown reassons.

Bye,

[Trueno]

Those Thai Broncos looking good... love that camouflage. Hope to see more exotic Broncos here...

Nice job you did Dino,

saludos

[VictorRomeo]

A few questions for the experts on German Broncos
1.Were the German OV-10B Broncos received new from the factory?

Yes.

2.Was Germany the only operator of the OV-10B?

Yes - the "B" series was produced for germany - some where converted for a short time to OV-10Z with an additional jet engine on the main fuselage

3.Was their only role that of target tug? No FAC mission at all?

Only target tug - operated by civilian company with civilian pilots - but owned by the "Luftwaffe".

4.Did they replace Douglas Skyraiders in that role?

No. they replaced the Hawker Seafurys (mainly TT20).

5.Where they flown by civilians in support of WGAF?

yes - see above.

6.Were the OV-10B aircraft ferried from the USA, and if so, did they have civil reg or military s/n?

Not sure about the ferry flights - but i can ask a contemporary witness about that if it's important. In the beginning they were civil registered (D-9545 -> D-9562) and in grey colour - that changed to military reg (99+16 -> 99+33) with the olive colour later. The "B" series s/n start with 338-??

best regards

[tomh]

VictorRomeo, thank you for the info. Ah, the Sea Fury tugs, I forgot about them. Bronco Ferry reg # not too important, just minor curiosity.

Trueno, thanks for your info, too.

Dino, those Thai Broncos are really in good shape. The prop leading edges show no wear compared to other photos here, no not many hours on them since depot I suspect.

OV-10A 66-13558 at Plattsburgh AFB, NY 19 May 1979. USAF unit unknown, but reportedly to Venezuela

[Antilliaan]

Those Thais are great, like the colours!

Here some recent Colombians in dull grey, but with four-blade props and flying, enjoy!

[Trueno]

Uh... Antiliaan Nice pictures amigo, although the camouflage is not spectacular like those Thais, the full colour roundel and the yellow band on tail make it a pretty aircraft.

Now some pictures of active TNI-AU Bronco's

saludos

Dominicano

[tomh]

Antilliaan,
Any information of the 4-blade props? I don't recall seeing UAF/USMC Broncos with them, but maybe sometime in the 90s they switched?

[Polecat]

haven't digitized my slidecollection yet, but here's two Bronco's from the FAV-museum in Meacham (tx), a museum dedicated to -amongst other things- the FAC-guys and their OV-10's... http://www.ov-10bronco.net/

The two Bronco's on display are:
68-3825, c/n 321-151, an OV-10A block 5


and 155426, c/n 321-305, (66M37) also an OV-10A.

[Antilliaan]

tomh,

the four-blade props were installed by March Aviation, Mesa, AZ between 2002 and 2004; most Colombian Broncos were wfu by 2002, but the US initiated an upgrade program to keep them flying. Unofficially, Colombian pilots refer to them as OV-10M, as the aircraft have been stripped down and built up like new. They are in very good shape and will keep flying for many years to come. Because of the upgrade and its unique capabilities, they have not been withdrawn after the delivery of the new Super Tucanoes. Nowadays, they are mostly used for FAC again as well as to support special forces missions. They even use them to drop four special forces with a fast rope, whilst flying very low and slow.....