Warbird Information Exchange

Looks like Tim Savage is selling his O-52 Owl project!

CURTISS 0-52 OWL • $379,000 • FOR SALE BY OWNER • Rare opportunity-Curtiss O-52 Owl pre-WWII USAAC observation aircraft now available. Super rare, only three other known survivors of the type, and all are in museums. This is likely the only one that will be available. Extensive spares and a second crashed airframe that could also potentially be rebuilt included. Note-aircraft requires further structural work to be made fully airworthy, though most of the hard work has been accomplished. Has had initial engine runs. Located in Indiana. Call for detail, serious enquiries only please! Friend of owner- 313-405-6720 • Contact James Church , Friend of Owner - located Andrews, IN 46702 United States • Telephone: 313-405-6720 • Posted October 12, 2022 • Show all Ads posted by this Advertiser • Recommend This Ad to a Friend • Email Advertiser • Save to Watchlist • Report This Ad • View Larger Images
https://www.barnstormers.com/classified-1777494-Curtiss-0-52-Owl.html?catid=23451

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
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Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

Must be Tim Savage's. Only photos I've managed to snag of it are from it's time at Anoka,MN in 1995 or 96, when Wally Fisk owned it-

Scan0007 by Bryan Darnell, on Flickr

It is a bummer he is selling it - was really close a few years back.

Link is the last progress pic I've seen...July 2020:

https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframePh ... ial=105414

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

The Planes of Fame Museum used to own and fly theirs. Not sure where it went. The EAA had one in their museum for decades. Not sure where it went. Then there was another one, possibly this one, that has floated around for years.
My first flight instructor, a WW II vet that flew lots of stuff built before WW II told me this; The airplanes built at the end of and after WW II are pretty good designs with mostly benign flight characteristics. Most of the stuff built before WW II had two or three things you really need to know before you jump in them and fly them. Knowing them will keep you alive." Things like stall characteristics, etc.
Many of the designs in the late thirties and early forties were overweight or to be specific, they needed more wing. (Also the Dewoitines and Yaks) High stall speeds and wing loadings could bite the unsuspecting pilot. Notice they elongated the fuselage on the P-40 and P-47. The P-47N has 33% more wing. The B-26 needed and later received more wingspan. So, the O-52 needs more wing, more lift and/or a lighter wing loading. It has plenty of power but might benefit from larger wingtips or VG's. If it were my project I would finish it and fly it. I would also go on a weight reducing program and put VG's on the leading edge. It would be nice to see one flying again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_O-52_Owl
40-2746 – O-52 on static display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.[2]
40-2763 – O-52 on static display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.[3][4]
40-2769 – O-52 on display at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.[5][6]
40-2804 – O-52 under restoration in Huntington, Indiana. It was previously part of the Walter Soplata collection.[7]

https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeIn ... ilySN=1499

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45-47=-2

The Owl formerly with EAA is now at Yanks Air Museum...40-2769.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Any ID on the "second crashed airframe that could also potentially be rebuilt"?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

It must be heartbreaking to be that close to the end of the project after suffering through all the "lack of any visual progress" years, and then have to sell it.

Ref the B-26 getting more wing; the air force then upped it's gross weight so my understanding is that the later B-26, even though it had more wing, ended up with a still higher wing loading.

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

The one at Pima is, thankfully, kept inside. It's an odd-looking aircraft, to be sure.
There is a pilot report on this type in the book "Flying American Combat Aircraft of WWII". The author flew the O-52 and O-47 in the Caribbean during 1940-41. If I can find my copy, I'll post a few of his comments.

I'm interested to see what happens with this. I give Tim a lot of credit for getting such an obscure type to this point. That is a tremendous achievement in itself. I hope there's a buyer out there willing to push it across the finish line and fly it!

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Matt