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The Vought O5U was a 1930s prototype
American observation
floatplane to meet a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
requirement for a
catapult launched scouting aircraft. The contract was won by Curtiss who went on to produce the
SOC Seagull
The Curtiss SOC Seagull was an American single-engined scout observation seaplane, designed by Alexander Solla of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation for the United States Navy. The aircraft served on battleships and cruisers in a seaplane configurati ...
; only one O5U was built.
Development
The United States Navy contracted three companies to produce prototypes to meet a requirement for a catapult launched biplane, with a central float and folding wings. Douglas produced the XO2D-1, Curtiss the XO3C-1 and Vought the XO5U-1.
The XO5U-1 (
serial number ''9399'') was powered by a single
Pratt & Whitney R-1340-12 piston engine
[Andrade 1979, p. 205] and first flew on the 8 May 1934.
The contract was awarded to Curtiss and only one XO5U-1 was built. The Status of Naval Aircraft, dated June 1937, listed the XO5U-1 as assigned at
Mustin Field
Henry C. Mustin Naval Air Facility (IATA code MUV), also known as NAF Mustin Field, is a former military airfield located at the United States Navy Naval Aircraft Factory on board the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was ...
at the
Naval Aircraft Factory
The Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) was established by the United States Navy in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created to help solve aircraft supply issues which faced the Navy Department upon the entry of the U.S. into World War I. ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Pennsylvania.
[Larkins, William T., "U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941 / U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft 1914-1959", Orion Books, a division of Crown Books, New York, 1988, Library of Congress card number 88-17753, , page 202.] It crashed in May 1938.
Specifications (XO5U-1)
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
{{USN observation aircraft
O05U
1930s United States military reconnaissance aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
Floatplanes
Amphibious aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1934