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L-1 Vigilant
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Photo: Robert Deering 1985 National Museum of the USAF Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO) Dayton, Ohio |
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The L-1 liaison
aircraft, originally designated O-49, was
the military version of the civilian Stinson
Model 74. It marked the transition between
heavier and larger observation aircraft used
by the Air Corps in the 1930s and the
lighter liaison "grasshopper" type aircraft
represented by the L-series during World War
II. Between 1939 and 1941, the Air Corps
ordered 142 L-1s and 182 L-1As with a
13-inch longer fuselage. Equipped with
high-lift devices on the wings, the Vigilant
was well-suited for operations from short
fields. The versatile L-1 performed a variety of missions both in the United States and overseas during WWII, including towing training gliders, artillery spotting, liaison duty, rescue, transporting supplies, special espionage missions behind Japanese lines, and even dropping light bombs. Some Vigilants could be fitted with skis for snow operations or floats for water take-offs and landings. |
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