Liaison aircraft

Taylorcraft Auster 5 liaison aircraft of 1957

A liaison aircraft (also called an army cooperation aircraft) is a small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages.

Operation

The concept developed before World War II and included also battlefield reconnaissance, air ambulance, column control, light cargo delivery and similar duties. Able to operate from small, unimproved fields under primitive conditions, with STOL capabilities, most liaison aircraft were developed from, or were later used as general aviation aircraft. Both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters can perform liaison duties.

Use by country

Argentina

(Fuerza Aérea Argentina)

• Piper Chincul PA-28 Dakota
• Piper Chincul PA-34 Seneca
• Cessna C-182
• Beechcraft TC-12B Huron

Bulgaria

• Kaproni Bulgarski KB-11 Fazan

Germany

Nazi period:

• Fieseler Fi 156 Storch
• Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun
• Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

LR-1 of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force

LC-90 of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force

Japan

Imperial period:

• Kokusai Ki-76 (Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, 1942–1945)
• Tachikawa Ki-36 (Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, 1938–1945)

Postwar period:

• LR-1 (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, 1967–2016)
• LC-90 (Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, 1974–)

Poland

• Lublin R-XIII
• RWD-14 Czapla
• PZL Ł.2

Portugal

Former Reims-Cessna FTB-337 of the Portuguese Air Force

• Piper L-21 Super Cub (Portuguese Army, 1952–1957 and Portuguese Air Force, 1957–1976)
• Auster D.5/160 (Portuguese Air Force, 1961–1974)
• Dornier Do 27 (Portuguese Air Force, 1961–1979)
• Reims-Cessna FTB-337, (Portuguese Air Force, 1974–2007)

Soviet Union

• Polikarpov Po-2 Kukuruznik ("Crop Duster")

Sweden

• Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub as Flygplan 51, 1958–1974
• Dornier Do 27 as Flygplan 53, 1962–1991
• Scottish Aviation Bulldog as Flygplan 61C, 1972–1989

Switzerland

• Pilatus PC-6

United Kingdom

• de Havilland Dominie
• Westland Lysander
• Taylorcraft Auster AOP

United States

Main article: List of United States Air Force aircraft designations (1919–1962) § Liaison

See also

• Liaison pilot

External links

• www.als-cannonfield.com – The Alamo Liaison Squadron is a group dedicated to restoring and flying liaison aircraft.
• Lbirds.com – Website with resources, information, and models of US WWII liaison aircraft
• Lbirds – Forum open to discussion about liaison aircraft