Design
Visually, the OV-10 has a central nacelle containing pilots and cargo, and twin booms containing twin turboprop engines. The visually distinctive item of the aircraft is the combination of the twin booms, with the horizontal stabilizer that connects them.
The aircraft's design supports effective operations from forward bases. The OV-10 can perform short takeoffs and landings, including on aircraft carriers and large deck amphibious assault ships without using catapults or arresting wires. Further, the OV-10 was designed to takeoff and land on unimproved sites. Repairs can be made with ordinary tools. No ground equipment is required to start the engines. And, if necessary, the engines will operate on high-octane automobile fuel with only a slight loss of power.
The aircraft has responsive handling and can fly for five and a half hours with external fuel tanks. The cockpit has extremely good visibility for a tandem pilot and co-pilot provided by a wrap-around "greenhouse" that is wider than the fuselage. With the second seat removed, it can carry 3,200 pounds (1,500 kg) of cargo, five paratroopers or two litter patients and an attendant. Empty weight was 6,970 pounds (3,161 kg). Normal operating fueled weight with two crew was 9,910 pounds (4,494 kg). Maximum takeoff weight was 14,446 pounds (6,553 kg).
The bottom of the fuselage contains sponsons or "stub wings" that improve flight performance by decreasing aerodynamic drag underneath the fuselage. The sponsons were mounted horizontally on the prototype. Testing caused them to be redesigned for production aircraft. The downward angle assured that stores carried on the sponsons jettisoned cleanly. Normally four .30 in (7.62 mm) M60C machine guns were carried on the sponsons with the M60Cs accessed through a large forward-opening hatch on the top of each sponson. The sponsons also had four racks to carry bombs, pods or fuel. The wings outboard of the engines contain two additional racks, one per side.
Racked armament in the Vietnam War was usually seven-shot 2.75 in (70 mm) rocket pods with marker or high-explosive rockets, or 5 in (127 mm) four-shot Zuni rocket pods. Bombs, ADSIDS air-delivered seismic sensors, Mk-6 battlefield illumination flares, and other stores were carried as well.
Operational experience showed that there were some weaknesses in the OV-10's design. It is seriously underpowered. This contributed to crashes in Vietnam in sloping terrain because the pilots could not climb fast enough. While specifications state that the aircraft could reach 26,000 feet (7,900 m), in Vietnam the aircraft could reach only 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Also, no OV-10 pilot survived ditching the aircraft.
Read more about this topic: North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco
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