Vought OS2U Kingfisher, part five

The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was designed by Vought's main designer Rex B. Beisel as he was tasked with designing an observation monoplane aircraft for the US Navy that could commit many tasks like directing Battleship fire. By replacing the standard Vought O2U Corsair biplane, Beisel incorporated production innovations as it was the first production type to be assembled with spot welding, a process developed jointly by both Vought and Naval Aircraft Factory in order to create a smooth fuselage resistant to buckling and with less drag. Biesel also introduced high-lift devices, spoilers and deflector flaps and drooping aillerons located on the trailing edge of the of the wing. This arrangement was unique to the Kingfisher, and were deployed to increase the camber of the wing creating, therefore, additional lift.
It was armed with a single 0.30 in Browning machine gun, with the receiver mounted low in the right front cockpit, which fired between cylinder heads, with another one, mounted on a flexible Scarff ring, for the radio operator/gunner. It could also carry two 100 lb bombs or two 325 lb depth charges. Additionally, the Kingfisher (as it was designated), was used as a trainer in both landplane and seaplane variants.
The prototype flew for the first time in 1938 and was powered by a 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-4 Wasp Junior radial engine. The first variants, called OS2U-1, were powered by the Pratt & Whitney R-985-48 air-cooled radial engine which yielded 450 hp of power. The second variant, was powered by a slightly improved variant of that same engine, P&W R-985-50 and was named OS2U-2 , the third variant, OS2U-3 was powered by a P&W R-985-AN2 and some of them, manufactured by the Naval Aircraft Factory, received the denomination of OS2N-1. All of them yielding 450 hp of power. A fourth variant, OS2U-4 was in the works, with narrow-chord and high-aspect ratio wings, fitted also with full-span flaps, however it wasn't developed.
A total of 1519 machines were manufactured of every variant at Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division's factory in Stratford, Connecticut and the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_OS2U_Kingfisher
2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 119 - OS2U Kingfisher in Action
3. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/141347/Vought-OS2U-1-Kingfisher
4. https://www.valka.cz//topic/view/1179