Drawing - Paul Matt - Douglas O-2H

The Douglas O-2 was a 1920s American observation aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company.

The Douglas O-2 was a conventional but reliable biplane, which attracted orders for 25 more aircraft: 18 O-2A equipped for night flying and six O-2B dual-control command aircraft for the US Army. Plus, there was one civil O-2BS modified for James McKee, who made a trans-Canada flight in September 1926. In 1927 the O-2BS was adapted as a three-seater with a radial engine.

The O-2H aircraft were an entirely new design but continued the same model number. Major differences were heavily staggered wings, a more compact engine installation, and clean landing gear secured to the fuselage. The fuselage was redesigned and a new tailplane was fitted, with staggered wings with unequal span. The O-2H incorporated the rigid-strut aileron interconnections of the O-2E and an improved split-axel landing gear. The USAAC received 101 O-2Hs between 1928 and 1930, and the National Guard had an additional 40-141 built.

Up to 2011 there were no O-2 aircraft were known to exist. However, in 2011 the wreckage of O-2H 29-163 that crashed out of Kelly Field Texas on March 16, 1933 has been positively identified. The only similar aircraft to exist is a restored Douglas M-2 mailplane and a follow-on derivative of the O-25 variant, an O-38.

Specifications:

• Crew: 2
• Length: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
• Wingspan: 40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
• Height: 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)
• Wing area: 362 ft² (33.6 m²)
• Airfoil: Clark Y
• Empty weight: 2,857 lb (1,296 kg)
• Gross weight: 4,484 lb (2,034 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 4,550 lb (2,064 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 110 US gal (92 imp gal; 420 l) in a single fuselage tank ahead of and below the pilot's cockpit
• Powerplant: 1 × Liberty V-1650-1 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 435 hp (324 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed metal propeller
• Maximum speed: 134.5 mph (216.5 km/h, 116.9 kn) at sea level
• Cruise speed: 110 mph (180 km/h, 96 kn)
• Range: 512 mi (824 km, 445 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 16,900 ft (5,200 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,075 ft/min (5.46 m/s)
• Wing loading: 12.4 lb/ft² (61 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.0971 hp/lb (0.1596 kW/kg)

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