Why Hasn’t Somebody Built A 3/4 Scale OV-10? Hmmm?
Friday, June 18, 2010 at 06:04PM 
Unless you’re some kind of weirdo, you probably like the 1960’s era North American OV-10 Bronco almost as much as I do. It’s kinda insect-like while being a bit of a brute, and when you consider that awesome visibility from the front seat, it would have to be ear-to-ear grin inducing. So, I’m wondering; why hasn’t someone snagged a couple really tired, and cheap, Garrett TPE331 turboprops off an old Turbo Commander or Mitsubishi MU-2 and built a really sweet 3/4 scale, 2-place OV-10?
Seems like a guy could build a stunning replica for a couple or maybe three hundred thousand bucks. OK, true, he wouldn’t be a guy with a regular bank account, but there’s a lot of people out there with more money than that wrapped up in homebuilt Lancair IV. And if you’re interested in stirring up a little attention when you arrive at an airport, I’m thinking a 3/4 scale 2 seat turbine powered OV-10 is gonna be pretty hard to beat!
I can also see it being almost practical. You can figure about 1,000 high-time horsepower pulling around a nice sized airframe with a pretty roomy cockpit. Let’s say it has a fabulous rate of climb and a 250mph max cruise speed. You could easily keep the power back then and run with a 200mph economy cruise. And then you’ve got that awesome hinged cap at the back end of the fuselage that opens up so you can put all your camping gear, an extra 55 gallons of Jet A, and food for a week inside when you’re heading out to central Alaska... and then, the camping gear and a dead moose for the trip back. I figure about 1,500 pounds of cargo nicely positioned right where you want it, on the CG. Nice. Better not get too big a moose though. Lastly, enough fuel in the wing to run for a good solid 6 hours.
So, there you have it. I’ve done my part by giving you the idea, cuz that’s all I can afford on this project. Now, someone NEEDS to build this dreamy 3/4 scale OV-10!
Can I have a ride? Puleeeze! Must. Have. Ride.
: )
Reader Comments (2)
The original specs for the Light Armed Recon. Aircraft (LARA) called for an aircraft with a wingspan short enough to allow for landing on a road so it could be co-located with ground units. Convair built the Model 48 Charger prototype with the following specs which closely match our fantasy plane:
2-place Cabin mid-wing monoplane retractable landing gear
2 x 650hp P&W-Canada T74 (PT6) turboprops
span: 27 feet 6 inches wide
length: 34 feet 10 inches long
load: 6003#
However North American won the contract and the result was a 30-40% larger plane needing airfields to operate from.
References:
http://www.combatreform.org/killerbees2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_Model_48_Charger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OV-10_Bronco
http://www.volanteaircraft.com/ov-10.htm
Fred- You make a good point. However, the OV-10 prototype also had specs close to what the Convair Model 48 had. In fact, the original concept for the OV-10 was for only a 20' wingspan!
I covered a little more detail on this in a post I did back in April:
CoolPix - Modern Military: 1960's Era OV-10 Bronco!