Bantam BRC picture

sapper740 · #1 03-03-08, 20:07

One of the joys of digging for early and pre-war photos is that one often finds pictures of scenes that were unlikely to ever be repeated again. Here is a Feb. 1941 picture of pre-war Army manoevers at Ft. Benning with a long line of "...the Army's new four wheel-drive midget cars".

cmperry4 · #2 07-03-08, 06:22

Neat picture, but now I have to figure out what that plane is. A Fairchild of some kind? Very Fieseler Storch-ish. Did not know U.S. Army had aircraft like that at the time. Time to get a-Googling

sapper740 · #3 07-03-08, 06:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmperry4

Neat picture, but now I have to figure out what that plane is. A Fairchild of some kind? Very Fieseler Storch-ish. Did not know U.S. Army had aircraft like that at the time. Time to get a-Googling

I believe it's a Ryan O51 Dragonfly, my friend. Derek.

cmperry4 · #4 08-03-08, 01:29

Looks like that would be the one. I was searching the Net, found lists of early O and L aircraft in U.S. Army, including the Ryan, but hadn't found any pix. Most of the references ended up leading me to the "Grasshoppers," the Pipers, Stinsons and Taylors that became the standard sorts of planes used for liaison and spotting work in WWII. Now that I know what to look for, I find only three YO-51 prototypes were built, which accounts for its obscurity. Thanks for the ID.

Grant Bowker · #5 08-03-08, 02:09

2 more at http://www.daveswarbirds.com/usplane.../dragonfly.htm

sapper740 · #6 08-03-08, 03:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmperry4

Looks like that would be the one. I was searching the Net, found lists of early O and L aircraft in U.S. Army, including the Ryan, but hadn't found any pix. Most of the references ended up leading me to the "Grasshoppers," the Pipers, Stinsons and Taylors that became the standard sorts of planes used for liaison and spotting work in WWII. Now that I know what to look for, I find only three YO-51 prototypes were built, which accounts for its obscurity. Thanks for the ID.

Wow, only three built! We're lucky to have found an operational pic of such such a rare bird. It's STOL capability must have been impressive with those massive, full length fowler flaps. Derek.

sapper740 · #7 08-03-08, 03:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

2 more at http://www.daveswarbirds.com/usplane.../dragonfly.htm

Y'know, looking at the first picture and knowing the STOL capability of the Dragonfly, I'll bet the Bantams are lined as a guage up to show how quickly the aircraft can get airborne. Derek.

Jordan Baker · #8 28-05-08, 20:14

Whlie searching some Pathe films I came across this very same shot showing the plane flying over the BRC.

Enjoy the film.