Prototype on the trolley used to move the floatplane around
Vought OS2U PBM
Kingfishers from VO-5 undertake a formation take-off
OS2U-3 VS-39 NAS Banana River
OS2U-3 VS-33 Banana River
OS2U-3 VS-33 1944
OS2U-3 VS-1D5
Mexican Kingfishers
OS2U-3 NAS Norfolk May
Underwing load for the aircraft: a pair of 350 lb depth charges
OS2U-3 black 4
OS2U-3 1941
OS2U-3 1944 Banana River
OS2U-3 1944
OS2U-2
OS2U-2 from USS Missouri 1944
Overall grey BuNo. 3102 being launched at NAS Pensacola
OS2U-2 from USS Missouri
OS2U-2 2189
OS2U-2 22
3-O-4 1714 enroute to NAS Alameda
OS2U-1 1714
OS2U-1 1714 1940
OS2U-1 1714
Aircraft with anti-spin parachute mounted under the tail cone
OS2U sitting on its catapult
OS2U trainers 1942
Kingfisher landed on the water in Truk Lagoon and rescued nine Navy fliers downed during the air strike on Truk. 20-20 April 1944
OS2U USS South Dakota
USS South Dakota catapult
OS2U Okinawa
OS2U Life-Raft
OS2U Gets Shower after Flight
Battleship USS Missouri
OS2U being recovered by USS Arizona September 1941
OS2U December 1942
OS2U Ellyson Field Pensacola
OS2U formation
OS2N-1 VS-1D5 with depth charges
OS2U 5D4-S-3 NAS Cape May
OS2U Alaska
British Kingfisher I
OS2U August 31. 1943
Seaplane tender USS Pocomoke
Kingfisher I
Kingfisher I in landplane configuration
Kingfisher I
Kingfisher FN678
Vought Kingfisher Mk.l FN678
Kingfisher FN712
Kingfisher FN672 HMS Pegasus
HMS Pegasus – catapult training ship
Kingfisher FN672 with Donald Duck on the cowling
Kingfisher FN659 – engine maintenance
Kingfisher FN656 A&AEE Boscombe Down, October 1942
Damaged OS2U-3
1st OS2U-2 front
USS Mobile enroute to Marcus Island
OS2U Corpus Christi Texas August 1942
Kingfishers in landplane configuration
Aviation Cadets 1942
OS2U-2 2190 Cape May, New Jersey
OS2U-2 from USS North Carolina
Sunday services on board the USS Mobile
XOS2U-1 1939
OS2U in flight
OS2U-2 3102
Catapulting OS2U USS Quincy (CA-39)
OS2U-3 East Coast base
OS2U-3
Formation of OS2U in flight 1942
OS2U-1 code “1-O-7” of VO-1 from USS Pennsylvania BB-38 off San Pedro 11 August 1940
OS2U-3 “black 16” is pulled ashore on a beach at Attu 3 June 1943
Marine OS2U-3 fitted with fixed landing gear on patrol over Caribbean during 1942
USS Indianapolis Seagull flying in formation with an OS2U
Kingfishers of VS-56 at Casco Cove, Attu Island November 1943
Vought OS2U code C74 fitted with fixed landing gear in flight
Vought OS2U-1 moments for making a water landing, 1942
Kingfisher floatplane of the USS New Mexico (BB-40)
Kingfishers in flight 1942
U.S. Coast Guard pilot training in OS2U 1942
OS2U aboard USS Albemarle AV-5 14 May 1942 4
U.S. Navy pilot and OS2U at NAS Corpus Christi 1943
Vought OS2U floatplane on patrol 1944 – color photo
Wreckage of OS2U at Ford Island Station Pearl Harbor December 1941
OS2U aboard USS Albemarle AV-5 14 May 1942 3
OS2U-3 #55 BuNo 5390 at NAS Corpus Christi Texas 1941
Vought OS2U hoisted aboard USS Charger ACV-30 in 1942
OS2U aboard USS Albemarle AV-5 14 May 1942
OS2U on the sled USS Iowa 1945
OS2U #51 on the beach at NAS Pensacola awaiting the crew
Vought OS2U-2 floatplane in flight
OS2U at Noumea ,New Caledonia in early 1943
Vought OS2U Kingfisher being armed, 1941
U.S. Sailors with floatplane Vought OS2U in South Pacific 1942
Damaged Vought OS2U off Attu Island May 1943
OS2U-3 assigned to the USS Miami CL-89 10 February 1945
Kingfisher on catapult of the USS Iowa (BB-63) 1944
OS2U #2 being hoisted on board
Kingfishers aboard USS Albemarle AV-5 14 May 1942 2
OS2U-1 Kingfisher at NAS Alameda June 1942
Wounded Airman helped from OS2U after rescue from Pacific 1944
OS2U #18 of the VS-49 at Dutch Harbor November 1942
Formation of Kingfishers during Atlantic Patrol
OS2U-3 over Padre Island 1942
Kingfisher “white 37” 1944, color photo
OS2U Kingfisher “white 50” on water 1943
OS2U of the FAW 4 in Aleutians 1943
OS2U-3 Kingfishers on catapult aboard USS New Mexico (BB-40) off Guam 1944
OS2U “white 43” taxiing at NAS Jacksonville in March 1943
OS2U-1 “4-O-7” of the VO-4 from USS Maryland in flight
OS2U-2 on the ground on May 6, 1943
Personnel signal an approaching OS2U from an unidentified ship
Kingfisher in color PTO 1945
Kingfisher gunnery run on target sleeve NAS Jacksonville August 1942 4
OS2U Kingfisher The Bug September 1943
U.S. Coast Guard OS2U
Marine tractor pulls OS2U Kingfisher on Funafuti Beach 1943
OS2U flies low over the water of Iwo Jima 19 February 1945
Battle damaged OS2U-3 off Attu Island 17 May 1943
Kingfishers prior to a flight 1942
OS2U aboard USS Missouri 2
Tractor pulls OS2U of the FAW-4 onto Alaskian shore 8jan43
OS2U gunnery run on target sleeve NAS Jacksonville August 1942 3
OS2U of the VS-49 at Andrew Lagoon Adak 1943
Kingfishers of VS-56 Andrew Lake Adak 1942/43
OS2U “white 43” makes a water landing at NAS Jacksonville in 1943
OS2U of the FAW 4 unit at Adak Island April 1943
Kingfishers at Cape May NJ
OS2U gunnery run on target sleeve NAS Jacksonville August 1942 1
Missouri recovers its OS2U-3 “white 2” August 1945
OS2U hoisted aboard battleship USS Missouri
OS2U being launched from a stateside training catapult on January 21, 1944
Crew taxiing back to their warship during a stateside training operation 1944
OS2U secured aboard the battleship USS West Virginia with the USS Foote DD-511 visible astern on July, 22 1944
Piloted by Lt Fred Hunter OS2U-3 of VCS-1 catapults off USS Detroit during operations in the Aleutians 1943
OS2U taxis during recovery operations by the USS South Dakota during operations at sea on April 29, 1943
Kingfisher was an U.S. observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a big central float and small stabilizing floats. Alternatively, a tailwheel undercarriage could be fitted.
Technical description
Mid-wing cantilever monoplane. Centre-section integral with fuselage. Two tapering outer panels. Structure comprises a single-spar with a D-shaped torque-resisting metal leading- edge. Aft of spar wing is covered with fabric. The trailing-edge includes deflector-plate type flaps and drooping ailerons. Spoilers are built into the upper wing surfaces to provide lateral control when the ailerons are drooped. All-metal monocoque fuselage of riveted and spot-welded construction. The skin panels, reinforced by spot-welded stiffeners or channels, are riveted to two upper longerons and one keel member. Cantilever monoplane tail type. Fixed surfaces are all-metal. Movable surfaces have fabric-covered metal frames. The movable surfaces are equipped with trimming-tabs controllable in flight by the pilot.
Split type landing gear. Each oleo shock-absorbing strut forms one leg of a tripod bolted to fuselage fittings. Duo-servo hydraulic brakes and high pressure tyres. Free swivelling lock- able tail-wheel equipped with smooth-contour pneumatic tyre. The tail-wheel shock-strut is of the oleo-air cushion typo. As a seaplane, a single main float is attached to the fuselage by two centre-line struts and bracing wires. Wing-tip floats are connected to the wing by five aluminium-alloy streamline struts.
Powered by Pratt & Whitney Wasp-Junior R-985-AN-2 radial air-cooled engine rated at 400 hp at 1,524m (5,000 ft) and at 450 hp for take-off. NACA cowling, adjustable trailing- edge gills, Hamilton-Standard constant-speed airscrew. Cartridge starter. The fuel tank is built integral with the centre-section of the wing and has a capacity of 545 litres (144 US gallons). The oil tank is of welded aluminium-alloy construction mounted in the engine compartment and has an oil capacity of 37.8 litres (10 US gallons). An oil-cooler, and automatic oil-temperature control-unit are included in the lubricating system.
Serial numbers:
XOS2U-l: 0951;
OS2U-1: 1681-1734;
OS2U-2: 2189-2288 and 3073-3130;
OS2U-3: 5284-5989 and 09393-09692;
OS2N-1: 01216-01515
Source:
Michael J. H Taylor: Jane’s American Fighting Aircraft of the 20th Century