The Vought OS2U Kingfisher is an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. …

Mar 7, 2021 · In the late 1930s, Rex B. Beisel, an engineer from Vought, was ordered by the direction to anticipate this need and starting the design of such observation monoplane. It was …

It was a nine-cylinder, single stage, air-cooled piston engine, with an ouptut at 450 hp (340 kW) for take-off, reduced to 400 hp (298 kW) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m). It drove a sing 2-bladed …

Flying from battleships, heavy cruisers and land bases during World War II, the Vought Sikorsky OS2U Kingfisher served throughout the Pacific in a variety of roles, from naval gunfire...

Feb 5, 2018 · Legendary World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker owed his life to a Vought OS2U Kingfisher. After the B-17 in which he was flying ditched in the Pacific in 1942, Rickenbacker …

May 5, 2022 · The Vought OS2U Kingfisher, a scout and observation floatplane, began service with the Navy beginning in August 1940. They were built using spot welding.

The OS2U has a maximum speed of 149 knots at 5,000 feet, a cruise speed of 132 knots with seventy-five percent power at 6,000 feet, and a landing speed of 48 knots. It has a travel …

While the OS2U-1 was proving itself, Vought introduced the OS2U-2, which had the R-985-50 P&W Wasp Junior engine. One-hundred-fifty-eight of these aircraft were delivered in 1940-41, …

The OS2U-2 model introduced leak-proof fuel tanks, armor protection, as well as the more powerful R-985-50 engine, delivering the same 450hp but at 5000 feet! The new mark could …

The OS2U occasionally performed air-sea rescues, of which the most dramatic was the rescue of several downed aviators from Truk lagoon during the HAILSTONE raid. Because of the limited …