The Stinson L-5 was the only purpose-built L-bird and the second most widely used liaison aircraft in WWII. It was rugged and powerful. The L-5 was called the Flying Jeep as it could perform many of the same duties.
The Aeronca L-3 joined similar Grasshopper-types in spotting, directing artillery fire, transport, short-range reconnaissance, and training. Some served in North Africa for the Free French Forces.
The Taylorcraft L-2 was an observation and reconnaissance aircraft built for U.S. Army Ground and Air Forces in WWII. L-2s were powered by a 65-horsepower engines and served stateside for training operations.
Excerpts from HQ North African Theater of Operations U.S. Army, 10 March 1944, by David G. Barr, BG Mountain Warfare The supply of isolated units by air was an innovation adopted in Italy because of necessity. Initially the dropping of supplies was undertaken by the use of A-36 combat planes [the ground-attack/dive bomber version of…
Excerpted from The Field Artillery Journal, September, 1943, by Col. W.W. Ford, FA Organic Field Artillery Air Observation has officially completed the first year of its life. On June 6, 1942, the War Department directed the establishment of this new facility. In the ensuing twelve months plans were made, personnel and equipment were assembled, and…
Excerpted from TIME magazine, Monday, Aug. 16, 1943. Fanny Rouge puttered back & forth a few hundred feet above the battery. From the flimsy two-seater liaison plane the observer could see the target : German trucks and men clustered around buildings off to the right. Fanny Rouge radioed their location to her artillery. “Roger,” said…
Top Secret WWII Bat Bomber Program At the outset of World War II, innovative plans were laid to send some talented fliers to the front lines. The United States was engaged in a number of secret aviation projects during World War II. In 1941, Dr. Lytle S. Adams, a dental surgeon from Irwin, Pa., having…
Excerpts on the Grasshoppers, Sentinel and Vigilant, book by Reed Kinert GRASSHOPPERS EVEN THE light plane has gone to war. These small planes now follow their civilian pilots into uniform. They have proved their worth under grueling field tests and in the face of considerable skepticism.The War Production Board has now ordered manufacturers to deliver…
Excerpted from The Field Artillery Journal, July, 1942 By Lieutenant Colonel Lowell M. Riley, FA [- Commentary #1] The six-week tests which have been conducted at Fort Bragg, Camp Blanding, and Fort Sam Houston with the light Piper Cub plane, L-57 [L-4, 57 H marking], have now been completed. The crews of these airplanes were…
Excerpted from a letter to The Commandant, Field Artillery School, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, August 4, 1941, from William W. Ford, Major, Field Artillery In January 1941 this writer presented his views on the above subject in an article entitled “Wings for Santa Barbara“. This article, published in the April 1941 issue of the Field Artillery…
An airplane of the Piper Cub class is entirely suitable for use in observation of artillery fire Excerpted from A Treatise on the Fast Airplane versus the Slow-Flying Light Airplane for Observation of Artillery Fire, July 31, 1941, by Dudley B. Howard, Colonel, Air Corps Problems to be solved How may a slow-flying airplane having a top…
Reprinted from Infantry Journal, by Private John Wolbarst, July 1941. Six thousand airplanes of less than 100 horsepower produced in 1940 attest recognition of the great sport to be found in a lightplane. That the same lightplane is potentially a military instrument of real value is less well recognized. There have been proposals for the…
Excerpted from The Field Artillery Journal, April 1941, by Major William W. Ford, Field Artillery. It is perhaps unfortunate that most of our field artillery officers have learned their gunnery at Fort Sill! Before the author of that statement is shot as a heretic, he wishes to explain. He doesn’t mean the School, he means…