OV means Operational View, and OV-1 sounds like Obi-Wan. The OV-1 entered production in October 1959 and served in United States, Europe, Korea, Israel, VietNam, Central and South America, and during Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the Middle East. The Mohawk retired from U.S. service in September 1996. At least 133 OV-1Cs were built (sources vary, as many as 169?), the C designating the model which used an IR (InfaRed) imaging system in the nose.
Oregon National Guard’s Project 926, move the old tail number 926 OV-1C Mohawk ‘gate guard’ to a better location.
23OCT2019 was the culmination of three years of volunteer work by Oregon National Guard retirees who worked and flew the OV-1 Mohawk from 1972 to 1992. Almost all of that three years was spent restoring the gate guard.
The new home of the 926 Mohawk is at Deibert Flight Facility, Army Aviation Support Facility.
The official dedication ceremony was held 02NOV2019.
Video of relocation operations called Project 926:
See more about Oregon National Guard’s long use of the Mohawk here (OV-1 Mohawks in Oregon).
The 02NOV2019 dedication for the new home of 926 came one day after a pilot was killed flying a Mohawk, while preparing for an air show in Florida.
Doctor Joe Masessa, of Mohawk Airshows, was killed when he lost control of the aircraft during a practice flight. Updated news reports said the air show was forced to cancel all flights due to bad weather.
Mohawk Airshows flies the POW-MIA ‘flying monument’.
Somebody needs to make a decal sheet of the Flying Monument.
In the early 1980s, NASA created an automated stall-speed warning system for OV-1Cs.
From February 1983, a NASA-U.S. Army operated Grumman OV-1C over Edwards AFB.
U.S. Army-NASA OV-1C Mohawk, automated stall warning system tests @ Edwards AFB, July 1983.
Hasegawa’s now ancient 1:72 scale OV-1B (also issued by Frog in the early 1970s) can be easily modified to a C version by scratch-building the IR glass in the nose.
Roden’s 1:48 scale D boxing depicts the IR nosed Mohawk. The D Mohawk is simply a consolidation of all the best upgrades from previous versions. Oddly, Roden’s C boxing does not depict the IR nose, and the instructions even tell you not to use the IR nose part (which is included on the clear sprue of every Roden Mohawk kit).
Roden’s C version also does not come with the SLAR, but you still need to get it because it comes with fuselage mounted flare dispensers and ‘classified’ electronic recon under-wing pods.
‘Aftermarket’ companies produce a variety of detailing/correction sets for the Hasegawa and Roden kits: Eduard, Cobra Company and Black Dog.
OV-1 vs MiG-17: How the Mohawk became a MiG killer
MINI AIR TANKERS TAKE OFF IN NORTH CAROLINA