I knew a USAF officer colleague of my father who flew one of these during the Vietnam War. He was in the same squadron as my Dad before he went over there, and we saw him at Mather AFB, Sacramento, CA after he returned. This was EXACTLY the time period represented by the USAF version of this model. My father's colleague seemed pretty much the same to me, but my parents told me his wife told them he slept with a loaded pistol under his pillow when he got back to the States. The box art with the USAF bird looks great, but we should never forget what flying these was like for the "figure" in the cockpit!

And don't forget that you can pop over to CanMilAir for a set of proper markings for it.

Hi Fred and Tim Thanks for the news. What a fantastic choice of subject! All the best Rowan

Two 1/32 O-1 Vietnam decal releases for this kit became available few days ago too at LINK

Agreed Brian. I did a Wikipedia search of the type and discovered how precarious it was flying the Bird Dog. During the course of the Vietnam War, 469 O-1 Bird Dogs were lost to all causes. The USAF lost 178, the USMC lost 7, and 284 were lost from the U.S. Army, South Vietnamese Forces, and clandestine operators. Three Bird Dogs were lost to enemy hand-held SAM's. tim

wouldn't be nice if it came with a seated pilot. you would get a Idea of the size and the risks these guys took at a hundred miles and hour and tree top level. We should remember the men as well as the aircraft.