Howdy All,

Just thought some of you wingy-thingie builders would get some enjoyment out of seeing just what an O-1 could actually carry!.....



Yep...that's napalm under the wing. I wonder what the flight dynamics were like during operations?.........sheeeeeesh!!

Tread.

Hmmmm As long as It's balanced ont he other side!!!! LOL

If task to deliver such a package, my concern would be enemy ground fire. Low and Slow is not the way to go.

Are you sure that's a Napalm canister ?

That crossed my mind as well {like minds } but, you can see thru the cabin glass and I cannot see anything else mounted on the other wing.....maybe your younger eyes can decern better than mine.
Besides, with that much added weight, unless the plan was to 'tricycle' all the way to the target, another one of these would be.......an even worse idea.

to CRS: You're spot on with your observation Chuck. This aircraft was employed by the Ravens. An outfit made up of "volunteers" recently released from the U.S. military and operating deep into Laos and other points not officially condoned by the United States during the time.
And, "low and slow" was exactly what they did...........

Tread.

Oh and Yes, that is napalm.

Gordon - never doubted you, just wanted to double check - there were a lot of strange configurations put in the wind in those days.

Hi all

It almost takes me back to the notion of setting The Channel on fire in 1940 using Tiger Moths...

Now that'd make a What If diorama!

All the best

Rowan

No worries Chuck. And I agree, there were indeed some "strange configurations" back then....but then, they were known as 'strange days' weren't they?

The thing that intrigues me almost as much as the nap' being carried {and any old or present fixed wing pilots should be equally intrigued} is the apparent lack of evidence of a napalm canister on the other wing.......anyone who has flown a light aircraft of this size will know that the flight characteristics would be quite 'unique' ............

regards,

Tread.

Howdy fellas,

After a closer inspection {for anyone interested} of the above photograph, I think there is evidence that there may be another nap' canister on the other wing hardpoint.
I've circled what looks like a matching section........what do you think?



At first I thought the canister was one used for dispersal of 'Button' mines {read; gravel mines} that were used along the HCM Trail. These canisters employed Freon as a stabilizer for the mines {keeping them inert} until dispersal. So, in tipping a hat to our good CRS, I'm still not entirely sure that it's nap'........still researching ;-)

Tread.

Howdy All,

In a continuing effort to unravel this wee mystery {to me} of the true lineage of this underwing adornment I have chased my original thought on this {thx to CRS's kind seed of uncertainty} and come up with this..........



The above schematic is a drawing of the SUU-21/A cluster dispenser.
A comparison betwix the photo and the schematic seem to support it is indeed of the SUU family. I am continuing to research, but from my preliminaries I am beginning to lean towards the 41 designator being associated with the addition{?} of the quick dispersal fan blade at the front of the canister itself. Not a bad idea for an aircraft that flys "low and slow"........

Tread.


{Thx Chuck }

That's what caused me to raise the question I was around some of those "strange configurations" at Udorn, back in the day, But it could have been Napalm, I haven't seen everything

And I genuinely appreciate you raising said question. The history I've read on the Raven's support their deployment of nape off of birds like this....and then reading the text description associated with the .jpg prompted me to make a false assumption.....my bad.
But fortunately we have members such as yourself that are both patient and understanding with some of the ' findings' we all stumble across.

Your gentle was enough to push me off the cliff into the churning waters of Sleuth Lake.....

Tread.

Hi Gordon

Also interesting is this break in the contour of the lower edge:



Another sign that it may be similar to the dispenser in your diagram?

All the best

Rowan