Any Gyrene fly boys on here that know or flew this aircraft?
Active Duty/Retiree ping.
As a Marine grunt, I loved to watch the OV-10’s doing aerobatics west of DaNang, playing around while awaiting their next mission.
Unfortunately, they were no longer in the USMC inventory by the time I finished flight school.
Neat aircraft!
exiting the AC was a simply matter of nose up and slide out the back... 
How many paratroopers could they possibly pack in there?
Was vulnerable to early model SAM 7 missiles
Several were lost in May 1972 during NVA offensive to
Shoulder fired SAM
One of my fav. war horses.
Couple decades later I saw a flight of them over Ft Irwin, great to see they were still going.
Very short takeoff and landing little guy, and quiet with the turboprops.
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5580
At great personal risk, Bennett decided to attack the NVA troops with his OV-10’s four 7.62 mm machine guns. In addition to large numbers of 23 mm and 37 mm antiaircraft guns used by the enemy, Bennett had to face a new threat-the new, shoulder-launched SA-7 Grail surface to air missile (SAM) carried by the NVA. Very effective against low-flying aircraft, the heat-seeking SA-7 had inflicted serious losses on American fighters. The OV-10’s twin engines produced a large amount of heat, and to stay out of the SA-7’s range, the OV-10 FACs had to fly above 9,500 feet. The area patrolled by Bennett and Brown had so many SA-7s that American pilots had nicknamed it “SAM-7 Alley.”
After four strafing attacks, Bennett had forced the NVA to retreat, and his OV-10 had received only slight damage from ground fire. On his fifth attack, however, Bennett’s left engine was hit by an SA-7, which set the engine on fire and damaged the landing gear. Another FAC pilot warned Bennett to eject because the damaged OV-10’s wing was about to explode, but Bennett refused. Shrapnel from the SA-7 had destroyed Brown’s parachute, and Bennett refused to leave Brown. Therefore, Bennett decided to ditch his aircraft in the nearby Tonkin Gulf. It was well-known by OV-10 pilots that a backseater might survive a crash-landing at sea, but the pilot’s chances of surviving were remote.
Choosing to risk his own life to save that of his backseater, Bennett landed the OV-10 in the Tonkin Gulf. Upon hitting the water, the OV-10 flipped over, and the front cockpit broke apart. Brown managed to free himself from the wreckage, but he could not help Bennett. The following day, Capt. Bennett’s body was recovered, and he was buried at Lafayette, La.
On Aug. 8, 1974, Vice President Gerald R. Ford presented the Medal of Honor to Bennett’s widow and daughter.
I saw one of these land and takeoff again in a parking lot at the University of South Florida. That was around 1970. Very impressive.
Great little airplane. Wonder what politics prevented the obvious rebirth in the COIN role?
I was a Vulcan air-defense gun crewman in West Germany at that time. When we did our annual aerial target practice on the Baltic coast, it was these birds that towed the targets. There was plenty of cable between the target sleeves and the Broncos themselves, so they were in no real danger.
Recommend you check out Combat Dragon II:
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/combat-dragon-ii-demonstrates-ov-10g-bronco-capabilities/
Hey, I’ve flown that very version of the plane. As a test pilot at Pax River in the 1970s, one of my projects was the development testing of the OV-10 NOGS-Night Observation Gun Ship, with a FLIR and belly-mounted chain gun. The special mods worked pretty well, but with the added weight and drag, the beast turned into kind of a pig. In any down and dirty combat situation, I felt very vulnerable to ground fire of any kind. Night would mitigate the vulnerability a bit, but darkness offers its own challenges. I don’t think the Marines pursued the NOGS very long.
TC