Cessna O-1 Bird Dog
| O-1 Bird Dog L-19 / OE | |
|---|---|
| An O-1A Bird Dog | |
| General information | |
| Type | Observation aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Cessna |
| Status | Active as warbirds and with civilian pilots |
| Primary users | United States Army |
| Number built | 3,431 |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1950–1959 |
| Introduction date | 1950 |
| First flight | 14 December 1949 |
| Retired | 1974 (U.S.) |
| Developed from | Cessna 170 |
| Variant | Cessna 308 |
| Developed into | SIAI-Marchetti SM.1019 |
The Cessna O-1 Bird Dog is a liaison and observation aircraft that first flew on December 14, 1949, and entered service in 1950 as the L-19 in the Korean War. It went on to serve in many branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, was not retired until the 1970s in a number of variants, and also served in the Vietnam War. It was also called the OE-1 and OE-2 in Navy service, flying with the Marine Corps, and in the 1960s, it was redesignated the O-1. It remains a civilian-flown warbird aircraft, and several examples are in aviation museums. It was the first all-metal, fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces' separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military and in other countries, with over 3400 produced.
It was further developed into a turboprop-powered version in the 1970s, the SIAI-Marchetti SM.1019. An experimental variant was the Cessna 308, a one-off to explore the possibility of a four-person liaison version.