Vought Sikorsky production in December 1940

Navy LCDR C.S. Alexander photographed a series of production scenes at the Vought-Sikorsky Stratford Connecticut factory in December 1940. 

At the time OS2U Kingfishers and SB2U Vindicators were being produced. The XF4U-1 Corsair had first flown only 7 months before these photos were taken and had yet to enter production.

80-CF-515817-31 OS2U-2 Engine Run Up LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

 In these photos workers are attaching fabric coverings to SB2U outer wing panels and control surfaces.

80-CF-515817-24 Vought Plant Stratford CT Lt Cdr C S Alexander USN 19401205

80-CF-515817-25 Covering elevator control surfaces LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

Illustrated below are the construction of wing leading edges for a SB2U along with a couple of images of wing main beam construction.

80-CF-515817-30 SB2U wing assembly LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401207

80-CF-515817-21 Wing main beam milling LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401205

80-CF-515817-22 Finish milling on wing main beam LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401205

In this photo a gentleman is working on a main landing gear assembly for a SB2U Vindicator.

80-CF-515817-23 Oleo strut retraction test  LCDR C. S. Alexander USN 19401205

Fitting of cockpit cabin enclosures is taking place at this work station for Kingfishers.

80-CF-515817-29 Fitting cockpit cabin enclosures LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

Finally three shots of this series show various scenes of final assembly work tasks.

80-CF-515817-27 Fuselage final assembly LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401207

80-CF-515817-26 Overhead view of a OS2U-2 Kingfisher from a crane LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

80-CF-515817-28 Overhead view of OS2U-2 LCDR C.S. Alexander USN 19401206

All the images in this series are from the US National Archives USN photo series 80-CF

Another Mock-Up the XOS2U-1 Kingfisher this time

     Here are some May and June 1937 images of the Vought Sikorsky XOS2U-1 Kingfisher mock-up. The design shows the curved glass at the front of the gunner/radio operators compartment. The tail surfaces show the Vindicator heritage in shape along with that of the near future XF4U-1 Corsair.

XOS2U-1 Mock-up in seaplane configuration a 3/4 right front view.

                               XOS2U-1 Mock-up in seaplane configuration a 3/4 right front view.

                               XOS2U-1 Mock-up in seaplane configuration a 3/4 right rear view.

                               XOS2U-1 Mock-up in seaplane configuration a 3/4 right front view.

                         XOS2U-1 Mock-up flexible gun installation.

                               
    XOS2U-1 Mock-up of flexible gun in action. Long sleeves and a tie for the well dressed gunner!

                               

                                         XOS2U-1 Mock-up showing gun range of motion

                               XOS2U-1 Mock-up showing flexible gun installation range of fire.

Photos from NARA Record Group 72 AC Box 45H

When is a Vought not a Vought?

The Naval Aircraft Factory was established in 1918 by the US Navy to help increase production of aircraft needed by the Navy as the majority of aircraft production was absorbed the the US Army. 

The Vinson Trammel Act of 1934 required the Navy to build 1/10 of all it's aircraft which enabled the NAF to keep producing aircraft for the Navy. The NAF is best known for building large quantities of the N3N "Yellow Peril".  

The NAF took on production of the Kingfisher to allow Vought to concentrate efforts on the F4U Corsair needed by combat squadrons.

Approximately 300 Kingfishers were built by the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia PA as the OS2N-1 which was the equivalent of the Vought OS2U-3. The NAF ceased building aircraft in 1945.

Here are some photos from the National Archives II Record Group 72-AC Box 45

Front view of an unidentified OS2N-1 in land plane configuration. NAF photo.

Right rear image of an OS2N-1 again in land plane configuration. NAF photo

Head on image of an OS2N-1 on floats. NAF image.

Right front view of the same aircraft in the float plane configuration. NAF photo.

Finally a very nice side view of the OS2N-1 sitting on the ramp at Philadelphia. NAF photo.

NASM OS2U-3 BuNo 5909 Kingfisher

I had the opportunity to take a few pictures of this veteran Kingfisher over the weekend. OS2U-3 BuNo 5909 served in WWII aboard the USS Indiana among various assignments.Here is a link to my photo set on Flicker: OS2U-3 BuNo 5909