Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Two-seat military scout and reconnaissance seaplane

Power Plant:

One 336 kw (450 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-2 Wasp Junior nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engine

Specifications:

Armament:

One 7.62 mm (0.3 in) fixed forward firing Colt Browning machine gun with 500 rounds; one 7.62 mm (0.3 in) flexible machine gun with 600 rounds in rear cockpit; provision for two 45 kg (100 lb) or one 147 kg (325 lb) bomb

History:

The Kingfisher was designed in 1957 by Rex Beisel of the Chance Vought Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corporation as a two-seat scout and observation aircraft for the US Navy, with the capability of being launched from catapults on board battleships, cruisers, and a number of destroyers.  The prototype, known as the XOS2U-1, was first flown on 1 March 1938 as a landplane, and production commenced immediately.  Produced in three main variants, the type could operate as a landplane or a seaplane, the latter having a single main centre-line float, with outrigger floats on the wings.  Tests revealed it handled well in slow flight due to several innovative control features, these including deflector plate flaps hanging from the trailing edge of the wing, and the ailerons drooping at low airspeeds to function in a similar fashion to extra flaps.  It also had spoilers to supplement aileron control at low speeds.

First production model was the OS2Y-1, of which 54 were produced, followed by the OS2U-2 (150 built) and OS2U-3 (1,006 built).  A further 300 were built at the Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and these were known as the OS2U-1.  The second production batch was the OS2U-3 which differed from the OS2U-1 in having armoured seats and self-sealing fuel tanks.  A total of 1,519 was built, and examples were supplied to the Royal Navy (100 under Lend Lease) receiving serials FN650 to FN749, Chile (15), Uruguay (6), Argentina (9), Dominican Republic (3), Mexico (6) and The Netherlands (24).

The 24 for The Netherlands were for service in the Netherlands East Indies (serials V-1 to V-24 – c/ns 345 to 368 – BuAer numbers between 5966 and 5989).  The vessel conveying these aircraft to Java was diverted to Australia in March 1942 due to the advancing Japanese forces, and 18 were taken on strength by the RAAF and received serials A48-1 to A48-18.  Seven were assembled at Rathmines on Lake Macquarie, NSW and the others at Point Cook, VIC.  Of the other six, three went to the US Navy and the fate of the remaining three is not known but could have been used for spares.

In RAAF service the Kingfishers operated with No 3 Operational Training Unit at Rathmines on pilot training, and later with No 107 Squadron on anti-submarine patrol work on the eastern seaboard, firstly from Rathmines and later from St Georges Basin on Sussex Inlet, NSW.  A base was built at St Georges Basin in 1944 and Kingfishers of No 107 Squadron operated from there until the end of the war when the aircraft were ferried to Lake Boga, VIC for disposal.  No 107 Squadron was formed at Rathmines on 10 May 1943 and received 16 aircraft from No 3 OTU.  The unit operated under the control of Eastern Area Command, RAAF, and was involved in anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort work, operating along east-coast sea-lanes north and south of Sydney, NSW.  Japanese I-class submarines were active in this area late in the war and were responsible for sinking a number of ships, including the hospital ship HS Centaur.

A48-11 (ex v-10, 5975) was trialled in November 1943 to carry a pair of 113 kg (250 lb) depth charges in lieu of the 45 kg (100 lb) units previously carried, this requiring some modifications to the aircraft.  It had been found the lighter depth charges were unsatisfactory and, to increase the performance of the aircraft with the heavier depth charges, the armour plate and wing fuel tanks were removed. Eventually the camouflage was removed and the aircraft finished service in a polished metal colour scheme.  Tests revealed removal of the camouflage increased speed at 3,219 m (2000 ft) by 10 km/h (6 mph).

Major servicing of the aircraft was performed at No 2 Flying Boat Repair Depot at Rathmines.  Three were lost in accidents: A48-8 (ex V-7, 5972) crashed into the sea whilst on anti-submarine patrol off Sydney on 14 January 1943;  A48-10 (ex V-9, 5974) crashed off Jervis Bay and sank on 4 October 1944;  and A48–16 (ex V-15, 5980) was lost when, whilst carrying out gunnery practice off Broken Bay, NSW on 26 September 1943, a round exploded in the machine gun breech, causing the aircraft to catch fire. It was landed and later sank.  Two (A48-1 and A48-7) were reduced to spares due to corrosion.  The St Georges Basin ramp remains in place and is used by private boats. The area is known as Kingfisher Park, plaques commemorating the operations of No 107 Squadron being put in place at the old base.

After the war the survivors were sold, half a dozen fuselages being noted in the 1950s at picnic grounds on the Colo River, north-west of Sydney, NSW. These are thought to have been later sold for scrap.

A48-13 accompanied an Australian expedition to the Antarctic on board HMAS Wyatt Earp in 1947 for reconnaissance and scouting duties.  Two aircraft (A48-13 and A48-15) along with a Supermarine Walrus (HD874) were flown to Rathmines to be prepared but only the Walrus and A48-13 were placed on board the vessel.  The Kingfisher flown by Sqdn Ldr R H S Gray with Sgt Jones flew on 13 March 1948, further flights being undertaken with a photographer. During the expedition some four hours was flown on operations. After its return the aircraft was placed in open storage at Rathmines, was not used on subsequent Antarctic expeditions and was broken up.  After disposal most of the Kingfishers were broken up.

Kingfisher A48-5 did survive for a period.  It was obtained from Lake Boga, VIC by Mr Norman Padgett of Werribee, VIC in June 1947 without an engine.  A Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine was obtained and installed. A test flight was made at Lake Boga before the aircraft was flown to Williamstown boat harbour near Melbourne, VIC. Without any civil registration the aircraft was later operated for four years off rivers in Borneo until it was abandoned on a beach at Labuan.

The substantial remains of one Kingfisher (A48-2) was on display at the Warbirds Museum at Mildura, VIC for some years.  This was obtained in the 1980s by the Whaleworld Museum at Albany, WA and, using some parts from a crashed former US Navy OS2U-1 landplane which was located at Exmouth on the North West Cape, WA, was partially restored for display.  Following the loss of John Bell, curator of the museum, in an accident, the collection was offered for sale and the Kingfisher was obtained by Precision Aerospace at Wangaratta, VIC for eventual restoration to airworthiness and operation by its subsidiary, the Pacific Fighter Collection.  Two further wrecks were shipped from the US in 2005 to Wangaratta, for restoration for American interests.

In February 2012 Precision Aerospace placed OS2U-3 Kingfisher A48-2 (incorrectly referred to at the time as A48-7) on the Australian Civil Aircraft Register as VH-PSG² but when noted in 2013 it was a long way from completion.  In 2015 A48-2 and the two American Kingfishers (serials 42-20341 BuAer 5985 and BuAer 5982) were shipped from Wangaratta to Pioneer Aero Ltd of Ardmore, NZ where work has continued on the restoration of the aircraft.

Other survivors of the type include examples on board the museum USN battleships USS North Carolina (BuAer 3073) at Wilmington in North Carolina and USS Alabama (BuAer 1368) at Mobile, Alabama; one (BuAer 5926) at the National Naval Museum at NAS Pensacola in Florida; one in Cuba; one at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington; one (BuAer 5909) at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport in Washington DC, and one at the Chilean National Aeronautical Museum at Los Cerrillos, Chile.