As a member of the Commemorative Air Force’s “Redbird Squadron” based at Dallas Executive Airport and flying a Taylorcraft L-2 I was doing some research last week for an upcoming event (stay tuned!!!) and stumbled across an article I hadn’t read before comparing US and German artillery during World War Two. There are some great quotes and lines in this article, which specifically mentions liaison aircraft.
Here are a few lines:
Part of the reason American artillery was so effective was good forward observation.
and:
America added another element to forward observation: the light airplanes previously referred to by Rommel. Initially the Army Air Corps refused to listen to the to the light plane manufacturers’ pleas to be included in the war effort, so the manufacturers made planes available for free to generals conducting maneuvers. The benefits were so clear that, almost instantly, an irresistible clamor for their purchase arose.
The plane most used by U.S. forces was a slightly militarized Piper Cub designated the L-4. The aircraft was painted olive drab, equipped with a radio, and modified with the addition of a window was placed in the top of the fuselage behind the wing. Two planes were issued to each artillery battalion.
- To read more of this well-written article, visit the article by clicking the link below!
www.armyhistory.org
A Stinson L-5 overflies the remains of a German Artillery unit destroyed along a road.