It's not entirely clear where the seven aircraft are coming from. An OV-10D+, known by its old U.S. Navy Bureau Number (BuNo) 155493, and an OV-10G, also referred to by its BuNo, 155409, are among the Broncos that Blue Air Training is buying, according to Warbird News.

The Navy first acquired 155493 as an OV-10A in 1968 and it was among the fleet assigned to the service's famous Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4), also known as the "Black Ponies," during the Vietnam War. It was later transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps, where it was later converted into the OV-10D configuration with its distinctly longer nose, as well as uprated engines and other improvements. All of the Marine OV-10Ds were further upgraded into D+s in the 1990s with strengthed wings, updated wiring, and other improvements as part of a service-life extension program.

The Marine Corps, which was the last U.S. military service to fly the Bronco on a widespread basis, retired the last of its examples in 1995. The Air Force sent its remaining OV-10s to the bone yard four years earlier.

The U.S. State Department's Air Wing, which you can read about in more detail in this past War Zone story, eventually acquired 155493, among other OV-10s, and had Marsh Aviation put it through another upgrade and modification program to turn it into an herbicide sprayer aircraft to support counter-narcotics operations. Beyond the spray equipment, the most visible change was the addition of four-blade propellers to the plane's two engines.

Read the rest here:
The Bronco Is Back! A Fleet Of OV-10s Will Help Train Air Force Forward Air Controllers - The Drive

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