Bill Finney’s Cessna L-19 Birddog | EAA Warbirds QR Code Website

History:
This airplane came out of the Cessna Aircraft Factory in February of 1952. It initally went to the Georgia National Guard. It was being used for U. S. Army training at Fort Rucker, Alabama in 1970 when I went through Fixed Wing Aviator Flight Training, but I do not know if I flew it at that time. As it is the trainer version of the Birddog, it has never been overseas. I purchased it in September of 1989 in Redding, California and flew it home to Muncie, Indiana. I have flown it to Oshkosh every year since and while there I flew it in at least one airshow and as many as four. I fly it to many airshows and fly-ins around Indiana every year. I flew it to both liaison fly-ins at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum. In 2000 I flew it to Wichita, Kansas for the 50th Anniversary of the Birddog. I have flown it to the Liaison Fly-In in Keokuk, Iowa several times where I qualified as a four ship wingman and two ship formation lead. I am a Viet Nam veteran and flew the Beech RU-21D (an un-pressureized version of the King Air) over 700 hours and received 14 Air Medals. I attained the rank of CW-2.

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Specifications

Registration Number	Date of Manufacture
N5190G	1952
Aircraft Role	Nickname
Liaison/Forward Air Controller	Birddog
Aircraft Type:	Wingspan:
Cessna L-19/ O-1	36 feet
Overall length:	Empty weight:
25 feet 9 inches	1614 pounds
Gross weight:	Fuel capacity:
2400 pounds	40 Gallons
Oil capacity	Engine type:
10 Quarts	Single 213 hp Continental O 470-11 piston engine
Propeller type:	Max Speed
McCauley two blade fixed pitch 90 inch diameter 47 inch pitch	151 mph in a Major dive
Rate of Climb	Cruise Speed
1500 Feet Per Minute	100 mph
Service Ceiling	Number of Crew
	Two Tandem
Armament	Bomb Load
Under Wing Smoke or White Phosphorus	Up to 250 Pounds per wing
Number Built	Number Surviving
3431	Between 200 and 300