Com-Central.net

- SFC_Jeff_Button

Doug, this is where that serial number for the Bird Dog falls into. Because the bird was over 10 years old/modified, it got a "0" as its first digit. The "6" is for the year (1956), and then the 418_ is the serial number. Thats why we were having problems finding it initially. My guess is that the bird in the picruee is either 4181, 82, 83, 84, 87, 88, or 89. Still don't know the unit though. See the excerpt below that I cut and paste from Joe Baughers site;

56-4161/4235 Cessna L-19E Bird Dog
4173 and 4174 transferred to USN as OE-1 BuNo 144663/144664.
Some sold to Thailand.
Redesignated O-1E in 1962.
4164 to N6234
4208 on display at Commado Air Park, Hurlburt Field, FL in 1973
4211 to Thai AF
4215 to Thai AF

Well, this one wasn't sold to Thailand unless they came over with a flatbed!

Hi guys,

Any chance this bird belonged to "the Company"? I know that they had a pretty good sized 'air force'. That might explain the difficulty with finding out what the disposition was.

Chuck (I'm-just-making-a-guess) S

- C_Sherman

Hi guys,

Any chance this bird belonged to "the Company"? I know that they had a pretty good sized 'air force'. That might explain the difficulty with finding out what the disposition was.

Chuck (I'm-just-making-a-guess) S

Doubtful...CIA ops were pretty straightforward about using AA or SAT markings...this one has detectable U.S. service markings and overall paint scheme. I'm pretty darn sure this couldn't be other than USAF.

I did some flying in the bird dog at Ft.Sill in 64 and 65. They had a few at the flying club that were cheap dates. They were all olive drab. Seems like a lifetime ago!!

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We may be finally heading somewhere on the research of the mystery Bird-Dog. I recieved these two photo's yesterday. If you look carefully, they show serial number 56-4187 sitting on the 19th TASS Ramp at Bien Hoa, September 1966. I recieved these from a man named Ken, who is suppossed to be the "most knowledgeable guy" on L-19's. He crew chiefed them in Vietnam. Shortly after these pictures were taken, the Bidr Dog would have had its tail number repainted to show it was over ten years old, (0 before the actual number, which is seen in the crash pics).
We cant see the last number in the crash picture but I have this on the following aircraft, to help narrow the search.
56-4182 was lost on 23 Feb 67 near Khe Shan (crew bailed out).
56-4184 was lost on 10 Sept 66 and crashed off shore near Phu Hiep (crew KIA)
56-4188 was lost on 23 Nov 66 south of Qui Nhon (crew picked up)
56-4189 was lost on 22 Nov 70 due to accidental control failure (crew survived)
My guess is that the crashed bird is either 87 as seen above, or 89. I have recieved a large amount of e-mail from members of the IBDA (International Bird Dog Assoc.) from which I sent a letter. Hopefully even more information will trickle in to help solve this mystery.

Bird Dog update. I have come up with a list of the Bird Dog between 56-4180 and 4189. Since we cant see the final number, we have to "whittle" it down some.
The following three were listed as "Not on known destroyed list".
4180
4185
4186
These four are known to be destroyed.
4182
4184
4188
4189
That means these next three are still unknown.
4181
4183
4187
Does anyone else have any information and/or pictures?