OV-10 Bronco (Unusual Aircraft Collection)

The OV-10 Bronco was used by the USAFin Vietnam as aforward air controllerlike the O-1 Bird Dog,O-2 Skymaster and LT-6 Mosquito, but the Bronco was specifically designed for this sort of work and was a much more capable aircraft than these others.   Strangely, though, the US Army had already introduced a purpose-built forward air controller called the OV-1 Mohawk just a few years earlier.

The Bronco's huge bulged canopy gives very good all-around vision to the pilot and observer.   There's also a large compartment at the back of the fuselage with a clamshell door where five paratroops or two wounded soldiers and an attendant can be placed.

The Bronco is a two-engined turboprop, which means it has enough power to operate in hot conditions or at high altitude.   It also makes it possible to carry up to three tons of weapons, so unlike its predecessors, this plane can do some serious damage to the enemy without help from anyone else.   As well as carrying bombs and rockets, standard equipment on the OV-10 includes four machine guns mounted in sponsons or little stub wings under the fuselage, similar to the stub wings on attack helicopterslike the Ka-50 Black Shark.   The Bronco's sponsons improve the plane's aerodynamics as well as providing racks to carry ordnance.