The L-2 Grasshopper was an American observation and liaison aircraft built by Taylorcraft for USAAF in World War II.
In 1941 the United States Army Air Force ordered four Taylorcraft Model Ds with the designation YO-57. They were evaluated in the summer of 1941 during maneuvers in Louisiana and Texas where they were used for support purposes such as light transport and courier. General Innis P. Swift, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, coined the 'grasshopper' name after witnessing a bumpy landing. This led to a production order under the designation O-57 Grasshopper. (In 1942 the designation was changed to L-2 Grasshopper).
In World War II, the AAF began using the L-2 in much the same manner as the observation balloon was used in France during World War I--spotting enemy troop and supply concentrations and directing artillery fire on them. It was also used for other types of liaison and transport duties and short-range reconnaissance which required airplanes that could land and take off in minimum distances from unprepared landing strips.
Postwar, a number of L-2s were civilianised and are operated by private pilot owners in the United States as the Model DCO-65. Several are still airworthy in 2011.
(Source: Wikipedia on line)
General characteristics
Crew: Two, pilot and observer
Payload: 425 lb (193 kg)
Length: 22 ft 9 in (6.9 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 5 in (10.8 m)
Height: 6 ft 8 in (2 m)
Wing area: 181 sq ft (16.8 sq m)
Empty weight: 875 lb (397 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,300 lb
Useful load: 425 lb (193 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 1,300 lb
Powerplant: 1 × Continental O-170-3 4-cylinder air-cooled engine, 65 hp (48 kW)
Performance
Never exceed speed: 140 mph (225 km/h)
Maximum speed: 92 mph (148 km/h)
Cruise speed: 83 mph @2150 RPM
Stall speed: 45 mph, power off; 43 mph
Range: 228 miles
Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,658 m)
Rate of climb: 395 ft/min
Wing loading: 7.18 lb/sq ft
Armament
None
Based on FS5 Jerry Arzdorf original.
All reworked to CFS, with new air file, up-scaled, damage profile, panel, moving parts and new textures by Edmundo Abad, 2012.
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I have included new textures, moving parts and damage profile for use with CFS1, with ficcional armament of two 7.65 mm machine gun on side windows, underwings "bazooka" and light bombs.
This virtual model is up-scaled to obtain a better view in Combat Flight Simulator.
(for accurate scale in FS98, replace the file Taylorl2.MDL by Taylorl2.old.MDL and rename this as Taylorl2.MDL)
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Installation FS98/CFS
1. Unzip to Temporaly directory "Taylor_L2.zip".
2. Copy "Taylor_L2" folder to X:\CFS\aircraft directory.
