183rd Aviation Company : Dedicated to Veterans of the Vietnam Conflict

Aircraft TAIL NUMBERS of the 183rd Aviation Co.

Randy Maiville has put together a list of the 183rd aircraft and the time frames with the unit. This information was compiled through the Freedom of Information Act request for O-1 aircraft. It is possible a few aircraft may be missed if they were with the 183rd for less than one month and missed a report cycle. One aircraft which is pictured in Minard Thompson's book "The Lovable One-Niner" which clearly has the seahorse on the tail and was destroyed within a month of from the database.

Mr. Maiville is restoring an O-1 which saw service with the 183rd from July 1970 until October 1971. Please look at your pictures closely. Let me know which aircraft on the list that you flew.

183rd RAC Aircraft Tail Numbers 0-1E

Tail No.	Model	Start	End	Comments
50-1727	O-1G	Jun 70	Oct 71	Destroyed at Van Ninh 28 October 1971 (Report)
51-4548	O-1G	Dec 68	Sep 70
51-4594	O-1G	Oct 70	Nov 71
51-4597	O-1G	Dec 68	Oct 71
51-4684	O-1G	Dec 67	Oct 68
51-4751	O-1G	May 67	Apr 71
51-4846	O-1G	Jan 69	Apr 71	Destroyed April 1971? No Report No further entries
51-4879	O-1G	Jun 70	Oct 71
51-4964	O-1G	Mar 70	Oct 71
51-5065	O-1G	Mar 68	Feb 69	Destroyed at Cam Ly 24, February 1969. Report Lt. Holloway, E. Cung
51-7332	O-1G	Nov 68	Nov 71	Destroyed November 1971? No report, no further entries
51-7352	O-1G	May 67	Nov 70
51-11913	O-1G	Aug 68	Oct 71
51-11964	O-1G	Apr 69	Oct 69	Destroyed at Dong Ba Thin 26, october 1969, Cpt. Walker. Picture in Web site.
51-12066	O-1G	Dec 68	Oct 71	Destroyed October 1971? No report or entries. Pictured with Lt. Ashley in Website
51-12078	O-1G	Dec 68	Mar 69	Ecklund Aircraft, 3, April 1969 S/B Destroyed? Off records after March, 1969
51-12213	O-1G	Oct 70	Oct 71
51-12334	O-1G	May 70	Nov 71
51-12536	O-1G	May 70	Oct 71
51-12623	O-1G	Mar 68	Nov 71
51-12682	O-1G	Jul 70	Oct 71	Destroyed October 1971? No report or further entries
51-12723	O-1G	Jul 70	Oct 71
51-16884	O-1G	May 67	Jul 70	Destroyed with another unit October 1971
51-16886	O-1G	Jul 70	Oct 71	Now in US under restoration
51-16892	O-1G	Jul 70	Oct 71
51-16924	O-1G	May 70	Oct 71
51-16927	O-1G	Dec 69	Oct 71	Destroyed October 1971? No report or further entries
51-16952	O-1G	Jul 70	Oct 71
51-16966	O-1G	Dec 68	Nov 71	SP4, Gary Cooper was Crew Chief in 1970
51-16972	O-1G	Jul 70	Oct 71
53-8009	O-1G	Apr 68	Oct 68
56-2471	O-1E	Jun 66	Jul 67	Destroyed 28 July 1967. Report On take off lost power
56-2481	O-1E	Jun 66	Jun 70
56-2482	O-1E	Jun 66	Nov 68	Destroyed with another unit 2, October 1970
56-2485	O-1E	Jul 66	Jun 70	Destroyed with another unit October 1970? No further entries
56-2486	O-1E	Jul 66	Mar 69	Destroyed no entries after March 1969
56-2487	O-1E	Jun 66	Apr 67	Destroyed no entries after April 1967
56-2488	O-1E	Jun 66	Jul 67	Destroyed 3, July 1967. Report, Low pass in valley gusty winds stalled
56-2492	O-1E	Jul 66	Nov 67	Destroyed 26, November 1967. Report, 1 KIA
56-2522	O-1E	Jun 66	Jun 68
56-2527	O-1E	Jun 66	Jun 67	Destroyed by ground attack. See Page 77 "The Lovable One-Niner"
56-2554	O-1E	Mar 68	Jul 70
56-2592	O-1E	Nov 67	Nov 67	Destroyed by ground attack. See P.77 "The Loveable One-Niner"
56-2623	O-1E	Sep 67	Oct 71
56-2645	O-1E	Jun 66	Jun 70
56-2649	O-1E	Jun 66	Jul 70
56-2652	O-1E	Jun 66	Dec 66	Destroyed. No entries after December 1966. No time entries after August
56-2655	O-1E	Jun 66	Jun 70
56-2662	O-1E	Jun 66	Apr 68	Also, July 1970 to September 1970
56-2686	O-1E	Jun 66	Jun 70
56-2688	O-1E	Jun 66	Jan 69	Also, July 1970
56-2691	O-1E	Jun 66	Feb 67	Destroyed 8, February 1967. Report, Two KIA
56-2692	O-1E	Jun 66	Feb 68
56-2693	O-1E	Jun 66	Jun 70
56-2695	O-1E	Jun 66	Jan 67	Destroyed 30, January 1967. On rocket run partial power loss struck water
56-4172	O-1E	Jun 66	Jul 70	Sent to VNAF
56-4230	O-1E	Jun 66	Jul 68	Destroyed. No entries after July 1968

Sources: Army Logistics Database for 0-1 Aircraft and unit code WDDRAA . Known: Destroyed information from the "The Loveable One-Niner" By Minard Thompson, Turner Publishing 1998. Compiled by: Randy Maiville October 2002.

183rd Incident Reports
(The first 6 digits of incident are Year, Month, Day)
183rd RAC Incident Reports

Incident No.	Tail Number	Comments
711028161	50-1727	Destroyed at Van Ninh
690224291	51-5065	Destroyed at Cam Ly (Lt. Holloway, E. Cung)
671021011	51-7352	Bundle drop through smoke hit 2 trees
710716161	51-11913	Running rough, landed at ROK at Ninh Hoa, replaced two spark plugs
691026111	51-11964	Destroyed at Dong Ba Thin Cpt. Walker
710109081	51-12066	Taxiing at Boa Loc wind lifted tail, prop hit PSP
710721011	51-12682	Engine quit at 4000 AGL, restarted, precautionary landing
710422081	51-16972	Rocket did not jettison, forced landing on snad bar, motor burned out
670728021	56-2471	Destroyed after take off, engine was losing power
690429201	56-2481	Ran rough, precautionary landing, broken ring
670104011	56-2482	Stalled on round out, damaged prop
670507061	56-2482	On climb out, ran rough, quit and restarted, oil cap safety clip failed
681221071	56-2485	Loss of power and running rough, engine quit, precautionary landing, foreign material in fuel
670125091	56-2487	Ground looped, left brake assembly had failed
670703031	56-2488	Destroyed, low pass in valley, hit draft and gusts, stalled
670316051	56-2492	Normal landing, main tail leaf broke
671050011	56-2492	Destroyed, report indicates 1 KIA
670920011	56-2522	Engine began running rough, 2 plugs failed
670626021	56-2527	Destroyed on take-off, hit beam next to runway
671120201	56-2592	Destroyed on landing, bounced and nosed over
671102011	56-2623	Pilot smelled gas and suspected fuel leak, landed on dirt road
670116171	56-2645	Engine ran rough in flight, landed, fouled spark plug
670316041	56-2645	Right brake locked due to foreign object at Ban Me Thout
680319021	56-2655	Ground loop on landing
670131121	56-2662	On landing main tail leaf spring broke
670705031	56-2686	On landing gust ballooned aircraft, bent right gear
700223041	56-2686	In flight, battery caught fire, pilot used extinguisher to put fire out
670307151	56-2688	Oil pressure drop to zero, relief spring failed
670208151	56-2691	On visual recon mission, crashed into side of hill and burned, 2 KIA
680321041	56-2692	During landing roll with gusty winds, aircraft ground looped
670809051	56-2693	On test flight chip detector came on, precautionary landing
700223051	56-2693	Engine running rough then quit, landed on highway, no damage, left mag failed
670130021	56-2695	Destroyed on rocket run, lost power, struck water, 1 KIA, 1 injured

Information tabulated by cross reference of Army Logistics Database and unit code WDDRAA and O-1 incident summary reports from 1967 to 1971. Summary reports provided courtesy of Minard Thomnpson, historian IBDA (International Birddog Association), compiled by Randy Maiville of IBDA on 10/02.