Gah… scheduler didn’t schedule… Sorry folks!
For the win! There is a ‘new’ Skyraider in the military inventory!!!
In recent weeks, in the skies over Iran, we saw the value of high-tech as a force multiplier. American stealth aircraft and smart weapons dealt staggering damage to Iran’s armed forces, to the point that all they have left are a few boats that are essentially water skiing speedboats with machine guns, and a few hundred goblins with AK-47s.
Low-tech played a significant part in this, too. Once air dominance over Iran was established, which took the USA and Israel about six minutes, our A-10 and B-52s were operating with impunity in Iranian airspace, doing what they do best: Dealing with a problem by the suitable application of high explosives.
Speaking of low-tech, the United States Air Force has now taken possession of 18 of their latest low-and-slow close air support birds: The OA-1K Skyraider II.
Full article, HERE from Red State.
While the article gives credit for the new Skyraider to L3Harris, they are actually crop dusters developed by Leland Snow at Air Tractor in Olney, TX about 1 1/2 hours south of us. It’s actually a 2 seat AT-802A crop duster with ‘toys’ added.
Mr. Snow is a legend in the crop dusting world dating to the 1950s, and has also built firefighting birds there, both of initial attack fire fighting, and also dumpers that scoop using floats for more water. Regular crop dusters can operate from rough fields, roads, or anything ‘close’ to where they are spraying, and have very simple spring loaded landing gear.
L3Harris originally developed the ‘toys’ and put them together with an AT-802 to become the Sky Warden, an airborne intelligence platform with a wide array of sensors.
This is a completely different airframe/direction from the Super Tucano by Embraer, HERE. It was originally designed as a basic trainer for Brazil, so it operates from hard surface runways only.
I just wish Mr. Snow and Air Tractor had gotten a little more publicity for what they’ve done. It is truly an inspiring story!
According to PIREP, they fly pretty much exactly like a normal air tractor, as the weight of the armor and extras is balanced enough it’s no different than full spray tanks. The biggest drawback is – those rudders require more quads than pilots coming out of other turbines are used to!
Every day is leg day…
Skyraider II: Cheap, small, and effective definitely has a place in an overall set of strike packages.
(Thanks for getting the post of the day in, even if the scheduler failed you.)
When a drone just won’t do. Those are really cool airplanes.
The Air Force command despises planes like this. Like the A-10. CAS is the red headed step child of missions.
The pilots of those airframes are of a completely different mindset. And will likely never make General officer rank.
That looks suspiciously like an armored and armed Piper Pawnee.
The Fat Electrician did a video on it…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JwpQlMHXUJM&pp=ygUYdGhlIGZhdCBlbGVjdHJpY2lhbiBjcm9w
K.I.S.S. is the answer to many military issues.
Dot- You are correct…LOL
Ag- Cheap by comparison, but no GAU…sigh
Houston- Exactly! MIL vs. camera angles
Lowell- You are absolutely correct!
Mike- LOL, it does, but it’s an Air Tractor!
Rat- Yes he did!
Stretch- Always is, contrary to the ‘powers that be’!
There are a batch set up for fire fighting at the Fort Morgan airport. $3,000,000 for the fire fighting set up.
My father knew Leland Snow back in the days when he was flying aerial applicator aircraft in the RGV before he started building them a-way out in Olney. One of the stories was he crashed an aircraft of some sort by tangled up in the guy wire of a utility pole. I remember Dad saying it was a Cub. He extracted himself from the wreckage and hitchhiked a ride to town to the doctor’s office, not for injuries but because his medical certificate was expired. He was back at the scene before the federal investigator arrived. The fed looked at the date on the very fresh certificate, said hmmmmm, and resumed his investigation.
I completely believe that story. Back in the days of old, when men were bold, the FAA slower on the ground, and flight surgeons knew when to sigh, roll their eyes, and sign the papers ASAP.
Usta dove hunt a lot out near Olney. As a pilot myself I was always distracted by the Air Tractors coming and going.
WSF- Yep!
Wild/TXRed- I can believe that… Great story!
Flugelman- I can imagine!!!