Bird Dog O-1 Army Model Airplane

Model Collectors and Military Enthusiasts Will Marvel The Quality of Our O1 Bird Dog Army Model Airplane

Our O1 Bird Dog Army model airplane is delicately handcrafted and made of the finest grade materials which underwent stages of meticulous and careful sanding, carving and modeling to its original form. Painstakingly and passionately worked by our master craftsmen on the O1 Bird Dog Army model airplane's details, ensuring exactness and precision based on the original airplane.

Our museum-quality O1 Bird Dog model plane is truly unique and not constructed from kits. The O1 Bird Dog model plane comes with a sturdy, durable base with a chrome steel support mounting rod or you can have our variable pitch wall mount accessory, allowing your to be displayed either hanging on the wall or the ceiling for an added effect. This top-quality O1 Bird Dog model plane will surely be appreciated by anyone who receives this elegant desktop display as a gift.

The Cessna L-19/ O-1 Bird Dog was the ideal aerial spotter and was used widely in southeast Asia. The O-1 Bird Dog was the first all metal fixed wing aircraft ordered for and by the US Army, since the US Army Air Force separated from the army in 1947, becoming its own branch of service, the United States Air Force. In Southeast Asia, the O-1s became a USAF forward air control aircraft. A forward air controller (FAC), often an experienced fighter pilot, flew in a specific geographical area so that he could readily identify enemy activity. If a controller observed enemy ground targets, he marked them with smoke rockets so for attack by fighter-bombers. The FAC remained on the scene to report bombing results. It made its first flight on December 14, 1949.

The L-19 received the name Bird Dog as a result of a contest held with Cessna employees to name the aircraft. The winning entry, submitted by Jack A. Swayze, an industrial photographer, was selected by a U.S. Army board. The name was chosen because the role of the army's new aircraft was to find the enemy and orbit overhead until artillery (or attack aircraft) could be brought to bear on the enemy. While flying low and close to the battlefield, the pilot would observe the exploding shells and adjust the fire via his radios, in the manner of a bird dog (Gun dog) used by game hunters.

L-19 / O-1s were one of the ubiquitous sights for ten years over the terrain of Vietnam, before being withdrawn from service in 1971. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military as well as in other countries.