I'm not, but I recently met a guy from Texas who is, and has a refurbished one which he says he keeps around just for grins.

My experience with them was from the perspective of an 0311 Marine.

I always thought they were a very cool aircraft.

My buddy that was, passed away recently--he liked the bird as well.

I forwarded this thread to my brother. He flew the bronco as a member of the Black Ponies in Viet Nam. They flew out of Vung Tau which was in the Mekong Delta. They were in support of Riverine forces and were called on to bail out Seal Teams when it got too hot.

Neat planes! When I was at Geiger in 88 I saw an OV-10 go vertical and dump a small group (3-5??) specops guys out the back (with parashoots of coarse)! Pretty cool to say the least!

The first OV-10s went to VMO-2 in Vietnam, arriving July 6, 1968. The first Bronco combat mission was flown on July 8 by my former squadronmate, Major Simon Kittler (USNA '53). Major Kittler and I were in DaNang in 1964-65 with HMM-365 (UH-34Ds).

Si Kittler still attends our reunions and hope to see him Reno July 7-11, 2010.

Namibiahunter

Namibiahunter, Was the technique I discribed above standard practice in dumping a recon team?

For the OV-10, this was a standard procedure for insertion of a recon team.

Another aircraft used for recon insertion was the EF-10B (F3D Skyknight). This was a jet aircraft of post-WWII vintage but still in use in Vietnam by VMCJ-1 (Marine Composite Reconnaissance Squadron). The method of insertion was for the parachutist to slide down the escape chute that was located between and behind the pilot and the ECM (electronic countermeasure) operator. Also, the EF-10B did not possess ejection seats so the only means of bailing out was to slide down that chute.

Namibiahunter

I think I remember 38.10 when I hear the words OV-10.

Of course over the years maybe my memory has fogged on that one.

In Quantico last week (I'm NOT a Marine, just a commoner who works for them) a few guys said they're bringing back the OV-10 "or something like it" for CAS and observation.

"Why?" Says I

"Because jets are too fast for a lot of the current missions, we need a prop to slow things down and actually hit the target", says the ex-Marine now Raytheon contractor.

That would be pretty cool! I wonder if it will happen and, if so, how long it will take.

There are a bunch of them flying as fire spotters here in California. I like seeing them on the ground, but hate to see them circling overhead since I live out in the boonies where fire is our main summer time worry.