STINSON L-5B
SENTINEL FLOATPLANE
CFS3 - V4.00.169
This aircraft was built by Gregory "Sarge" Pierson using version 4.00.169 of the AvHistory 1% Assembly Line process. It is based on the visual created by and painted by HerbieG. Please see the original readme file for more information.
The Stinson L-5 Sentinel was derived from the pre-war Stinson Model 105 Voyager. In 1941, the Army Air Corps purchased six Voyagers from Vultee Aircraft (which had acquired Stinson in 1940) for testing, these aircraft being designated as YO-54s. Meanwhile, a modified variant of the Voyager, called the Model 75B, had been demonstrated for the Army.
The Model 75B incorporated some features and components of the earlier Voyager series, but was an entirely new design. The Army ordered this model in quantity, designating it first as the O-62 ("O" for Observation), and subsequently as the L-5 when the type designation was changed, in 1942, to indicate "Liaison" aircraft.
With short field takeoff and landing capabilities, and the ability to operate from unimproved forward airstrips, the two-crew L-5s were used during World War II for reconnaissance; delivering supplies to, and evacuating litter patients from, isolated units; rescuing Allied personnel from remote areas; laying of communications wire; transporting of personnel; and -- on occasion -- as a light bomber.
Nicknamed "the Flying Jeep," the L-5 demonstrated amazing versatility, even landing and taking off from tree-top platforms constructed above a thick Burmese jungle which could not be cleared for more conventional airstrips.
When the craft was produced specifically for the air ambulance role, its structure was enlarged and an additional door was added to accommodate stretchers (L-5B through L-5G). In British RAF service the L-5 and L-5B were known, respectively, as Sentinel Mk I and Sentinel Mk II. The US Navy and Marines also used Sentinels, designating them OY-1s and 2s.