A Tigerhound Memoir by Jim Gordon INTRODUCTION        DANANG, EARLY 1968           FAC AIRCRAFT        PLEIKU, 1968        COVEY OPS FROM PLEIKU VISUAL RECONNAISSANCE & INTERDICTION     EXTRA PHOTOS          LINKS        FAC PATCHES

For most of the time I was with the 20th TASS, the squadron flew the O-2A, one of two militarized versions of the Cessna 337 Skymaster.  The O-2A had been adopted in 1967 to replace the old O-1 observation plane, a late-1940s design that had limited range and carrying capacity and a single engine.  The O-2A's obvious differences from the civil version Skymaster included windows in the cabin roof and right side door, no propeller spinner caps, reinforced "hard-points" in each wing to support, for example, a pod for smoke rockets, and a large rack of radios.  (The O-2B, used for "psyops" missions, was closer to the civil Skymaster.)  The O-2 wasn't especially robust, and the heavy use and routine maneuvers meant that a lot of maintenance was required.  The overloaded electrical systems ate electrical inverters and the aircraft usually had warped wings from mild aerobatics and the drag of the rocket pods.  After the O-2As replaced the shorter-legged O-1s, the squadron was able to pull out of some of its more-isolated, forward operating locations and centralize its operations at three bases.  This also meant fewer O-2 rear propellors chewed up by gravel from unimproved runways and ramps.  In late 1968, the Air Force began to deploy the faster, more agile Rockwell OV-10s, designed with the FAC mission in mind, relegating the O-2s to relatively lower-threat areas and night missions.