Span: 16"

Length: 15"

The Kingfisher was the U.S. Navy's first catapult-launched monoplane observation aircraft. It came in both float and land-based configurations, and served as observer aircraft, anti-submarine aircraft, and rescue aircraft. The most famous incident involving a Kingfisher was the rescue of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who ditched in the Pacific in a B-17 during 1942. A Kingfisher picked up Rickenbacker and two other crew members (who still remained following a rescue the previous day) but the Kingfisher could not take off because the load was too great. The OS2U pilot taxied on the surface over 40 miles to make the nearest landfall with everyone aboard.