A friend of mine who is an airplane nut sent me this link. Great photos...complete with some sound as well.
http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/Edwards ... rds09.html
Edwards AFB Open House
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joseyclosey
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Re: Edwards AFB Open House
Thanks for the link Robert I love airshow pics, the Lockheed YO-3 'Quiet Star' especially caught my attention.
Theres a good video on You Tube....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypAokNyWpqc
http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/Edwards09/DZZ_2066.jpg[/pic]
Wikipedia says.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_YO-3
The YO-3A was designed to a US Army specification of 1968, which called for an observation aircraft that would be acoustically undetectable from the ground when flying at an altitude of 1,200 feet at night. Lockheed was approached to produce such a design. In 1966 the company built a prototype QT1 "Quiet Thrust", AKA X-26B using a modified Schweizer SGS 2-32 glider. This was abandoned for two prototypes of a two-seat version called the QT-2 PRIZE CREW. The QT had a silenced engine and a propeller operating at subsonic tip speed for quiet operation.
Following operation trials with the QT-2 in Vietnam, 1968, a production version, designated the YO-3A was ordered by the Army. Based on the QT2's SGS 2-32 platform, the YO-3A was highly modified. It had a low-mounted wing, retractable main-wheel landing gear and a modified fuselage with tandem seating for a pilot---in back—and—observer in front seat using a NVAP (Night Vision Aerial Periscope,) and infrared illuminator. The YO-3A was powered by a 210 hp IO-360 engine driving a six-bladed fixed-pitch propeller, the propeller was later changed to a three-bladed constant-speed version.
Nine of the eleven YO-3As in production by LMSC operated in South Vietnam, at night, 1970-71 (14 months) and never took a round or were shot down. The YO-3A was very successful in spotting movement by the North Vietnamese but its deployment late in the American involvement in Vietnam reduced its value in that war.
Theres a good video on You Tube....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypAokNyWpqc
Wikipedia says.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_YO-3
The YO-3A was designed to a US Army specification of 1968, which called for an observation aircraft that would be acoustically undetectable from the ground when flying at an altitude of 1,200 feet at night. Lockheed was approached to produce such a design. In 1966 the company built a prototype QT1 "Quiet Thrust", AKA X-26B using a modified Schweizer SGS 2-32 glider. This was abandoned for two prototypes of a two-seat version called the QT-2 PRIZE CREW. The QT had a silenced engine and a propeller operating at subsonic tip speed for quiet operation.
Following operation trials with the QT-2 in Vietnam, 1968, a production version, designated the YO-3A was ordered by the Army. Based on the QT2's SGS 2-32 platform, the YO-3A was highly modified. It had a low-mounted wing, retractable main-wheel landing gear and a modified fuselage with tandem seating for a pilot---in back—and—observer in front seat using a NVAP (Night Vision Aerial Periscope,) and infrared illuminator. The YO-3A was powered by a 210 hp IO-360 engine driving a six-bladed fixed-pitch propeller, the propeller was later changed to a three-bladed constant-speed version.
Nine of the eleven YO-3As in production by LMSC operated in South Vietnam, at night, 1970-71 (14 months) and never took a round or were shot down. The YO-3A was very successful in spotting movement by the North Vietnamese but its deployment late in the American involvement in Vietnam reduced its value in that war.