Cessna O-1 Bird Dog

O-1 Bird Dog
L-19 / OE
An O-1A Bird Dog
General information
TypeObservation aircraft
National originUnited States
ManufacturerCessna
StatusActive as warbirds and with civilian pilots
Primary usersUnited States Army
Number built3,431
History
Manufactured1950–1959
Introduction date1950
First flight14 December 1949
Retired1974 (U.S.)
Developed fromCessna 170
VariantsCessna 308
Developed intoSIAI-Marchetti SM.1019

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 liaison version.


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