O-58 drawings

[bwmatz]

I'm trying to help someone with an O-58 restoration. He's looking for a drawing to help with the placement of the "U.S ARMY" lettering on the underside of the wings. I've searched every page of info I have for the O-58 but only found a 3-view drawing with shows the lettering (7-310) , but no measurements. Anyone know where I can find what he's looking for?

[Tom Egbert]

Have never seen an L-3 with U.S. Army on the wings. Usually just the ball with a star. Have blueprints with this shown for L-3.

[L3CFI]

Tom,

Do you have those blueprints in an electronic format? I'd like to see them. Someday I'll have to restore my L-3C and would like to go back as original as possible.

[2I2]

Brian, my first suggestion would be to head for Dayton and the USAF museum on a weekday. I'm a member there and they have an amazing archive. Have a solid idea of what you want- the more specific the better. My guess is there are likely prints on file for use with inspecting the markings. One proviso- as markings changed engineering drawings may have been revised as well, but it's more than likely reference copies were kept as changes were made. They'll also have photos, manuals and possibly production and delivery records.

If one were to do an authentic restoration on an O-58/L-3, the first thing to know would be the completion date, the second the s/n, if it is desired to be done "as delivered". Of course once delivered, planes had markings changed as the regs changed. I'll avoid a big discussion of USAAF serial assignments, just trust me that the plane would have been marked at to what was accordance at the time of completion.

Snapshots are often the best historical verification "U.S. ARMY" did appear in several photos of A and B variants in "Aeronca, A Photo History". Check out the shots of the test pilot and plane where the engine was literally lost. Date: 2/18/42

Here are some dates to remember, thanks to Dana Bell's "Air Force Colors" V.1

5/15/42- Removal of the red "meatball" from the US roundel for all US COMBAT Aircraft
6/1/42- Removal of the "meatball" from all service aircraft.
4/42- Manufacturers propose removing "U.S. ARMY" from wing undersides to save paint and labor
Early 5/42- Agreement with the USAAF leads to the deletion of "U.S. ARMY" from completed aircraft (except trainers?).
11/1/42- "U.S. ARMY" officially deleted from all service aircraft

As to "U.S. ARMY" itself, Bell states that 10/15/26 the Air Service decreed that "U.S. ARMY" should be in two foot tall block letters on the underside- in white or black to contrast with the color. I'd guess the black lines are 4"wide. Aeronca also put the middle of the "M" all the way to the bottom.

Now where is it? Looks like "ARMY" is centered span wise and chord wise on the left wing. On the right wing, "U.S." would be start at the mirror image of the end of "Y" on the left wing. A little shifting would be required, if surface irregularities (strut attachments, fairings, nacelles) intrude on the black lettering. It does seem manufacturers were able to be flexible, as long as they had a reasonably symmetrical result

I have some pics I took at Dayton today of US ARMY on the O-38 and O-52, but too big to post here. Also took some pics of their L-3C- but it has late WWII markings- I can send them later with some notes if that would help.

There are also the three US Navy JR-1's "borrowed" from the AAF and L-3C's delivered to the Civil Aeronautic Administration's War Training Service, for different schemes.