just finished reading a fascinating article in the current Flight Journal magazine (which is, by the way, an incredibly good magazine on its own considerable merits, and also a wonderful resource/research tool for us modelers; the detailed interiors and great photography, often in color, of the subjects covered convinced me to subscribe many years ago…) - the topic was an obscure, only-recently declassified observation/ FAC aircraft made by Lockheed’s “other” skunk works; their missile/armament section(!) turns out this critter was actually so QUIET it was functionally “silent”! it’s also a uniquely beautiful ship - based on a schweitzer 2-32 sailplane, with a simply GORGEOUS hand-made prop and a lovely, big tandem cockpit. naturally, i’d LOVE to model this rare bird, and it’s likely there’s no kit available, so i guess i’m fishing to see if anyone knows of a kit of the sailplane that was its progenitor, that schweitzer 2-32? thanks to any/all who might have some insight!!! PS
Here’s a resin kit of the YO-3A, and a kit review of it. Don’t know if it’s available any more. And this site is all about the YO-3A. Hope that helps!
Legato also has a resin kit of the YO-3A. I saw it in my LHS the other day and it doesn’t look too bad at all, very expensive, but doesn’t look bad.
A couple of years ago, I did a piece for Air & Space Smithsonian on the YO-3A, in the course of which I attended a reunion of YO-3A pilots and crewmen, which was fascinating.
The kit reference given in the second post is for a 1:72 kit. I have the Legato kit, which is 1:48.
It wasn’t so much that the YO-3A was “silent,” which it wasn’t. It was that all of the noises the aircraft made–aerodynamic, mechanical, prop, exhaust, etc.–were tuned to become one with the typical ambient noise of a jungle at night. Also, it was only the Q-Star prototype that led to the YO-3A that had Ole Fahlin’s handcarved prop.
For a variety of reasons, the YO-3A ultimately was something of a failure.
Stephan
I was crew chief on YO-3A 69-18007, RVN 70-71 and am webmaster of the YO-3A website.
We are in the process of restoring 007 to flight condition at Cable Airport, Upland CA.
I was an organizer of the 2004 reunion that Stephen Wilkinson attended. Since then we have many more pilots, crew chiefs, engineers, T/Os check in.
I still had my hearing at the age of 20. As a Crew Chief, the YO would fly over the maintenance shack at about 200 feet before leaving on a mission. The “light flutter” of the propeller could not be heard until the plane was almost on top of the maintenance shack area. As the plane passed over, we listened for whistles, rattles and other “minor noises.” As the plane passed over, there was light sound of air passing over the wings. Almost as soon as the plane passed over you could not hear it. If that had been done at 800 to 1,000 feet you wouldn’t have heard anything. I would call that silent.
We also waited at the maintenance shack late at night for the planes to return. If the pilot hadn’t called in that he was on his way and you were involved in reading or just daydreaming, you didn’t know the plane had landed and you didn’t hear it pull around to the revetment. This quietness could make working around the plane a bit hazardous. I used to sit in a chair outside the maintenance shack to be sure I didn’t miss meeting the plane.
9 YO-3As operated in Vietnam 70-71. They never took a round, were never shot down. The program folded, as most programs ended because of the withdrawal of American troops from RVN. By the end of "72 the United States military was all but out of Vietnam.
By March of 1971 with the installation of the 3 bladed prop, most of the bugs had been worked out of the planes and the mechanics had learned how to work on them with a high level of skill. Interestingly, the final report on the YO-3A evaluated only the months that the 6 bladed prop was on the plane. I have all the daily logs on YO-3A 69-18007. From March 71 to the end of the program in September 71, 007 logged in almost twice the number of mission hours as the previous 8 months.
Interestingly, NASA still has a YO-3A operational. Also, during the 70’s the FBI successfully used 2 YO-3As in kidnapping and extortion cases. The FBI pilot, the NASA pilot and the NASA crew chief have said what many of us who were involved with the YO-3A know–she is a sweet plane when flown by a skilled pilot and is maintained by experienced mechanics.
Kurt Olney
VP Quiet Aircraft Association
Cable ? thats over by ONT isn’it? Kurt if it’s ok to stop by and look around, I’d like to check it out next time I’m in that area. I’ll check your QAA site out for info. Thanks…stay[8D]