North
American Aviation
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NA-300/OV-10
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Two place (pilot and
weapons officer or observer) seated in-line,
twin engine, twin boomed Light Armed Recon and Attack (LARA)
contract
winner. The original YOV-10A mock up
has been fully restored and is on display in the OV-10 Assn
museum at Meacham Field just North of Fort Worth, TX
off I-35W. The
LARA
mockup and the initial
OV-10A aircraft had 30' wing spans, which were lengthened to 40' in the
B through D+ models.
Designed to serve in a Tri-Service (Navy/Marine/Air Force) role, the OV-10
provided an excellent platform for these
users to conduct forward air
control, ground support,
and light attack in support of ground troops, off shore ship and
land based artillery fire control, and interdiction utilizing 2.75" and 5"
unguided (Zuni) rockets, .30
& .50 cal
sponson mounted machine guns, and/or articulated 20mm three-barreled M-197
Gatling Gun or centerline mounted cannon. .
The evolution of weapons brought enhanced delivery capability to the OV-10D,
D SLEP (Service Life Extension
Program) and designated D+NOS (NOGs,
Night
Operational Gunship prototype and eventual NOS, Night Operations
Ship). Hellfire and AIM-9 intelligent weapons were then mounted from wing
hard points.
One power system upgrade increased engine power by 30%
and original round tip
aluminum props were changed to stronger and lighter square tipped fiber
glass. Maximum level airspeed for the OV-10D+ was 287 mph.
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