Lockheed YO-3 Quiet Star
Lockheed Corporation · United States · first flew 1969 · reconnaissance aircraft
The Army-Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star was an American single-engine propeller aircraft developed for near-silent battlefield observation at night during the Vietnam War.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 8.94 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- All-metal low-wing monoplane with a large wingspan
- Large canopy with pilot and observer in tandem
- Slow-turning propeller driven through a belt pulley
A glider-like airframe with long wings, a big canopy and a slow, quiet propeller. It has a retractable tailwheel undercarriage.
Specifications
- The Lockheed YO-3 Quiet Star has a length of 8.94 m (29 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 17.37 m (57 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 166 km/h (103 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
It was built to a 1968 Army specification and based on the Schweizer SGS 2-32 glider, after the QT-2 and QT-2PC conversions of 1966.
Variants
The Army received 11 production YO-3A. The QT-2PC was the earlier modified-sailplane version.
Where you'll see it
After Vietnam, YO-3As were used by the Louisiana Department of Fish and Game, the FBI and NASA, which retired its aircraft in 2015.
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