OV-1B Mohawk - Fort Rucker, AL - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The OV-1 was built as a joint US Army and Marine Corps project for a modern battlefield surveillance aircraft. The Marine Corps pulled out of the project before their prototype could be built, but the US Army began placing its orders late in 1959 for the OV-1A and OV-1B. The -1A and -1B differed in that the -1B variant had an 18 foot side-looking radar mounted under the fuselage and offset to the right. The OV-1B also had an internal camera with in-flight processor and an increased wingspan to cope with the extra equipment. While the plane was slow, its huge triple finned tail and engines mounted on top of the wings gave the Mohawk great maneuverability. To protect against small arms fire from the battlefields over which it kept a watchful eye, the cockpit was armored with an aluminum-alloy floor, flak curtains and bullet-resistant windows.

Experience in Vietnam, where the Vietcong called the plane "Whispering Death", soon showed that the policy of operating reconnaissance aircraft unarmed was not always wise. In response, a new variant, the JOV-1A, was built with four underwing hard-points for guns and rockets. The OV-1C followed and was similar to the OV-1A, but was equipped to use the new infra-red surveillance systems. The final production version, the OV-1D, had side-loading doors for mounting a variety of electronic intelligence equipment. These served over the Cold War battle lines of Europe with great success.

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The display aircraft was constructed as an AO-1B. In 1962 it was taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Army with s/n 62-5860 and re-designated as an OV-1B. In 1973 it was transferred to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposal Center (MASDC) with inventory number YA009. In December 1982, it was transferred to the Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker, AL.

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Type of Aircraft: (make/model): OV-1B Mohawk Tail Number: (S/N): 62-5860 Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): U. S. Army Aviation Museum inside / outside: outside Other Information:: The aircraft is part of the outdoors display of the U. S. Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker. Access restrictions: The aircraft is displayed outside. There is no fence. Daylight hours would be best for visiting. The aircraft is located on an active Army base.

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

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