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Air Observer
An air observer or aerial observer is an aircrew member whose duties are predominantly reconnaissance. The term originated in the First World War in the British Royal Flying Corps, and was maintained by its successor, the Royal Air Force. An air observer's brevet was a single wing with an O at the root. Although today sometimes a crewed aircraft is still utilised for aerial observation, industry and the military use both satellites and remotely piloted vehicles for this function. The term is also used in some non-military contexts, such as police helicopter units. The first recorded RAF "kill" of the Second World War, on 20 September 1939, was by air observer Sergeant F. Letchford, aboard a Fairey Battle, flown by Flying Officer L.H. Baker. Observers were also issued with weapons, and expected to engage with enemy aircraft in the early days of military aviation. Over time, the role changed and separate gunnery specialities emerged. By the Second World War the RAF commo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aircrew
Aircrew are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions In commercial aviation, the crew responsible for operating and controlling the aircraft are called ''flight crew''. Some flight crew position names are derived from nautical terms and indicate a rank or command structure similar to that on ocean-going vessels, allowing for quick executive decision making during normal operations or emergency situations. Historical flightdeck positions include: * Captain, the pilot Pilot-in-Command and highest-ranking member or members of a flight crew. * First officer (FO, also called a co-pilot), another pilot who is normally seated to the right of the captain. (On helicopters, an FO is normally seated to the left of the captain, who occupies the right-hand seat.)Smith, PatrickPatrick Smith's Ask The Pilot: When a Pilot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Aviation
Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide military logistics, logistical supply to forces stationed in a Theater (warfare), war theater or along a Front (military), front. Airpower includes the national means of conducting such warfare, including the intersection of transport and warcraft. Military aircraft include bombers, fighter aircraft, fighters, Military transport aircraft, transports, trainer aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft. History The first military uses of aviation involved lighter-than-air balloons. During the Battle of Fleurus (1794), Battle of Fleurus in 1794, the French observation balloon ''l'Entreprenant'' was used to monitor Austrian troop movements. The use of lighter-than-air aircraft in warfare became prevalent in the 19th century, including regular use in the American Civil W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, F-35 Lightning II carrier-based stealth fighter jointly with the Royal Air Force. The RAF was formed by the 1918 merger of the RN's Royal Naval Air Service with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps. The FAA did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty until mid-1939. During the Second World War, the FAA operated aircraft on ships as well as land-based aircraft that defended List of Royal Navy shore establishments, the Royal Navy's shore establishments and facilities. History Beginnings British naval flying started in 1909, with the construction of an airship for naval duties. In 1911 the Royal Navy graduated its first aeroplane pilots at the Royal Aero Club RAF Eastchu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early Middle Ages, medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Kingdom of France, France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the English Navy of the early 16th century; the oldest of the British Armed Forces, UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service. From the early 18th century until the World War II, Second World War, it was the world's most powerful navy. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superior ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell OH-58 Kiowa
The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine single- rotor military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. It was produced by the American manufacturer Bell Helicopter and is closely related to the Model 206A JetRanger civilian helicopter. The OH-58 was originally developed during the early 1960s as the ''D-250'' for the Light Observation Helicopter (LOH). While the rival Hughes OH-6 Cayuse was picked over Bell's submission in May 1965, the company refined its design to create the Model 206A, a variant of which it successfully submitted to the reopened LOH competition two years later. The initial model, designated by the service as the ''OH-58A'', was introduced in May 1969. Successive models followed, often with uprated engines, enhanced protection systems, and other improvements, culminating in the ''OH-58F''. Additional improvements, such as the ''OH-58X'', were proposed but not pursued. During the 1970s, the US Army became interested i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hughes OH-6 Cayuse
The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse is a single-engine light helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Hughes Helicopters. Its formal name is derived from the Cayuse people, while its "Loach" nickname is derived from Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) program under which it was procured. The OH-6 was developed to meet United States Army Technical Specification 153, issued in 1960 to replace its Bell H-13 Sioux fleet. The ''Model 369'' submitted by Hughes competed against two other finalists, Fairchild-Hiller and Bell, for a production contract. On 27 February 1963, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight. The Model 369 had a distinctive teardrop-shaped fuselage that was crashworthy and provided excellent external visibility. Its four-bladed full-articulated main rotor made it particularly agile, and it was suitable for personnel transport, escort and attack missions, and observation. During May 1965, the U.S. Army awarded a production contract to Hughes. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell H-13 Sioux
The Bell H-13 Sioux is an American single-engine helicopter, light helicopter built and produced by Bell Helicopter for the military and licence-produced by Westland Aircraft for the British military as the Sioux AH.1 and HT.2. It was the first helicopter to be certified for civil use. Development In 1947, the United States Army Air Forces (later the United States Air Force) ordered the improved Bell 47, Bell Model 47A. Most were designated ''YR-13'' and three winterized versions were designated ''YR-13A''. The United States Army first ordered Bell 47s in 1948 under the designation ''H-13''. These would later receive the name ''Sioux''. Initially, the United States Navy procured several Bell 47s, designated ''HTL-1'', between 1947 and 1958. The United States Coast Guard evaluated this model, and procured two HTL-1s for multi-mission support in the New York Harbor. The most common U.S. Navy version of the 47 was designated the ''HTL-4'', and dispenses with the fabric covering ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco
The North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is an American twin-turboprop attack aircraft, light attack and surveillance aircraft, observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for Counter-insurgency aircraft, counter-insurgency (COIN) combat, and one of its primary missions was as a forward air control (FAC) aircraft. It can carry up to 3,200 lb (1,450 kg) of external munitions and internal loads such as paratroopers or stretchers, and can loiter (aeronautics), loiter for three or more hours. Development Background The aircraft was initially conceived in the early 1960s through an informal collaboration between W.H. Beckett and Colonel K.P. Rice, U.S. Marine Corps, who met at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, and who also happened to live near each other. The original concept was for a rugged, simple, close-air-support aircraft integrated with forward ground operations. At the time, the U.S. Army was still experimenting with arme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cessna O-2 Skymaster
The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and development In 1966, the United States Air Force (USAF) commissioned Cessna to build a military variant of the Model 337 Skymaster to supplement the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog in the role of forward air control. Both the civilian and military Skymasters were low-cost twin-engine piston-powered aircraft, with one engine in the nose of the aircraft and a second in the rear of the fuselage. The push-pull configuration provided centerline thrust, allowing simpler operation than the low-wing mounting of most twin-engine light aircraft, and allowed a high wing to be used, providing clear observation below and behind the aircraft. Modifications made for the military configuration included fore-and-aft seating for a pilot and observer, instead of the six se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cessna O-1 Bird Dog
The Cessna O-1 Bird Dog is a liaison and observation aircraft that first flew on December 14, 1949, and entered service in 1950 as the L-19 in the Korean War. It went to serve in many branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, was not retired until the 1970s in a number of variants, and also served in the Vietnam War. It was also called the OE-1 and OE-2 in Navy service, flying with the Marine Corps, and in the 1960s it was re-designated the O-1. It remains a civilian-flown warbird aircraft, and there are examples in aviation museums. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces' separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military as well as in other countries, with over 3400 produced. It was further developed into a turboprop-powered version in the 1970s, the SIAI-Marchetti SM.1019. An experimental variant was the Cessna 308, a one-off to explore the possibility of a 4-person l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forward Air Control During The Vietnam War
Forward air controllers (FACs) played a significant part in the Vietnam War from the very start. Largely relegated to airborne duty by the constraints of jungled terrain, FACs began operations as early as 1962. Using makeshift propeller-driven aircraft and inadequate radio nets, they became so essential to air operations that the overall need for FACs would not be completely satisfied until 1969. The FAC's expertise as an air strike controller also made him an intelligence source, munitions expert, communication specialist, and above all, the on-scene commander of the strike forces and the start of any subsequent combat search and rescue if necessary. Present as advisors under Farm Gate (military operation), Farm Gate, FACs grew even more important as American troops poured into Vietnam after the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) would swell its FAC complement to as many as 668 FACs in Vietnam by 1968; there were also FACs from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct United States in the Vietnam War, US military involvement escalated from 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian Civil War, Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars, which ended with all three countries becoming Communism, communist in 1975. After the defeat of the French Union in the First Indoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
