Stinson | ||||||||||||
L-5 /
O-54 Sentinel
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Photo: Robert Deering 11/13/2007 Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Dulles International Airport (IAD) Chantilly, Virginia |
||||||||||||
The L-5 was the
military version of the commercial Stinson
105 Voyager. The U.S. Army Air Forces
purchased six Voyagers in 1941 as YO-54s for
testing, and quantity orders for Sentinels
began in 1942. Between 1942-1945, the USAAF
ordered 3,590 L-5s, making it the second
most widely used USAAF liaison aircraft.
The unarmed L-5, with its short field takeoff and landing capability, was used for reconnaissance, front-line aeromedical evacuation, delivering supplies, laying communications wire, spotting enemy targets, personnel transport, rescue and even as a light bomber. In Asia and the Pacific, L-5s remained in service with the U.S. Air Force as late as 1955. Donated by Dr. Robert R. Kundel of Rice Lake, Wis., the L-5 on display was restored by the "Oriole Club" 133rd Tactical Airlift Wing, Minnesota Air National Guard. Delivered to the museum in 1977, it is marked as an L-5 of the 25th Liaison Squadron serving in New Guinea in 1944. |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
VARIANTS:
|