Vintage valor

A member of the ground crew, Isaiah Sanchez, stands on the apron before us and raises his hands in a practiced gesture. In an instant, the left 1,040-horsepower Garrett turboprop engine roars to life. From my vantage point in the back seat, I watch Sanchez complete the same dance on my right; both engines now humming a symphony of warbird fanfare. As we taxi for takeoff, I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of nostalgia and respect for an aircraft that up until only a few months ago was almost completely unknown to me. The voice of my pilot, Matt Nightingale, fills my headset asking if I’m ready to go and I’m snapped out of my trance. Was I ready? Yes. Did I have any idea what I’d be getting myself into? Absolutely not. This Vietnam-era beast was about to take me on the ride of a lifetime over the Chino, California, landscape.

When we picture iconic American warbirds from the past 80 years, aircraft like the Corsair, P–51 Mustang, and F–4 Phantom are always top of mind. But wars were not fought with these aircraft alone. Lesser-known military aircraft played pivotal roles supporting U.S. troops, and unlike many of its warbird brethren, this underappreciated aircraft is still working today: the North American Rockwell OV–10 Bronco, a fully aerobatic and STOL-capable aircraft with a long nose, sizable payload, and screaming twin-turboprop engines.

The Bronco comes from humble beginnings. The prototype was developed in a garage in China Lake, California, by U.S. Marines K.P. Rice and W.H. Beckett and quickly got the attention of the U.S. Navy. The first Bronco flew in late 1966, and only 360 were built. Now retired from the U.S. military, the Bronco is getting its chance in the spotlight through private ownership and supporting firefighting missions with Cal Fire.

At the heart of the Bronco’s recent emergence from the shadows is the OV–10 Squadron, an organization dedicated to creating a squadron of OV–10 Broncos for general aviation, led by Mike Manclark. Restoring the aircraft is a team of mechanics, fabricators, and apprentices at California Aerosport Aviation, owned and operated by aviation restoration expert and self-proclaimed “kid,” Matt Nightingale.

Nightingale and Manclark are aviation kindred spirits. Both in their 50s, the two grew up separately enjoying the same airshows, each building a passion for the OV–10. Manclark, a helicopter and commercial multiengine fixed wing pilot, made a name for himself in the aviation industry, co-founding FAA-certified maintenance, repair, and overhaul company Leading Edge Aviation Services and Leading Edge Avionics. Finally in the position to buy his dream aircraft in 2016, Manclark found and bid on a Bronco at a trade school in Vermont, which he ultimately lost. He knew of six more Broncos available in Texas and purchased those, laying the foundation for his OV–10 “squadron.” Shortly after, he received word that the sale of the original Bronco he’d attempted to purchase had fallen through; this became Manclark’s seventh Bronco.

“He’s [Manclark] a Vietnam supporter,” Nightingale said. “He supports everybody that’s been over there. It’s been a real good eye-opening journey for me because I’ve been able to work with a lot of Vietnam veterans that flew the airplane in Vietnam.”

California Aerofab, Aerosport’s sister company that focuses on aircraft restoration, has been restoring airplanes since 1997 and got its start in aircraft fabric work, like the Bronco, in a garage.

“In the early 2000s, I had an opportunity to restore a veteran of World War II, I would say,” Nightingale said. “It was a Pearl Harbor P–40 that was on Wheeler Field when it was attacked, and fortunately was preserved. It crashed in an accident about three months after Pearl Harbor and was recovered back in the ’80s. A group had started the project, and they just couldn’t finish it. One of the current customers that I was maintaining and building his aircraft, Stephen Gray, asked if I wanted to restore it. That’s how Aerofab started.”

Nightingale, the son of a pilot, practically grew up at Chino Airport and the Planes of Fame Air Museum, now located in Santa Maria, California.

“I started flying airplanes about 1984, at 15 years old,” Nightingale said. “My father would bring me down to the airport every single day after school. He didn’t want me to get a job at the airport, he wanted me to do something different, but every day he’d bring me to the airport. He had a couple airplanes, so I was able to start learning how to fly with him and a few of the people around here….I’ve been flying ever since.”

A full-service restoration and repair operation, Cal-Aerofab’s multi-hangar facility is packed with warbirds and bombers that span more than 80 years of aviation history like P–40s, Corsairs, and F–86s as well as a surplus of parts and pieces integral to the restoration of these storied aircraft.What makes the Bronco so distinctive is its ability to thrive as both a light attack and reconnaissance aircraft.

The OV–10 Squadron’s Broncos were all complete aircraft when they arrived at Nightingale’s apron and required what he calls “an intense IRAN, or inspect and repair as needed.” The Broncos also received updated wiring and avionics that include Garmin’s G600 TXi and GTN 750Xi, GTN 625, and the G5. These aircraft were last updated in the early 1990s.

“The restoration business has changed to where you get a complete airplane,” Nightingale said. “Now you’re having to repair things that guys wanted to throw out back in the ’90s and early 2000s. And it becomes a very, very interesting trade, interesting adventure. You build a relationship with every single airplane you put together. So, you like to build it for guys that like what they’re doing.”

Nightingale has always had a soft spot for the OV–10. He grew up watching them at airshows like the El Toro Airshow, which took place from 1950 to 1997 at the now-decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Orange County.

“It was cool to see servicemen parachute out of the back of them. And it’s a unique airplane, utility-wise. Everything is just absolutely, you know, it’s different from everything else,” Nightingale said.

What makes the Bronco so distinctive is its ability to thrive as both a light attack and reconnaissance aircraft. The OV–10’s low and slow STOL capabilities allowed it to operate in a variety of environments, from aircraft carriers to the battlefield where it was often used for troop and medical transport. From the outside, you wouldn’t imagine the Bronco’s slender fuselage could accommodate a handful of soldiers ready to parachute onto the battlefield, but accommodate it could. And not only did it do a great job of transporting servicemembers, it also played an integral role in Vietnam as a member of the U.S. Navy’s light attack squadron the “Black Ponies” and the Marine Observation Squadron VMO 2, flying fire support and armed reconnaissance missions. The U.S. Marine Corps also used the Bronco for observation and combat mission in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

The Bronco was retired from military service in 1995 but is still working today with Cal Fire, leading air tankers to their desired target areas during firefighting missions. Up until the beginning of this year, the OV–10 had served for more than 30 years with the Philippine Air Force’s 15th Strike Wing. One of the aircraft in the OV–10 Squadron was used by the U.S. Department of State, operating of out of the Patrick Air Force Base in Florida as part of the Colombian drug spraying program to spray glyphosate over more than four million acres of Colombian territory.

Our mission in the OV–10 was less noble than the Bronco’s typical MOS. In place of a Bronco or other military aircraft, on our wing was a Twin Beechcraft D–50, our photography platform, piloted by Nightingale’s brother, Patrick. Once our aerial photography dance was completed, it was time for Nightingale and me to have a little fun. We headed to Lake Matthews where Nightingale demonstrated a stall. With a stall speed of just under 70 knots, the recovery was exceptionally mild. Nightingale then relinquished control of the aircraft to me.

“Your aircraft,” Nightingale said, and as my hand closed around the stick and I began to manipulate the controls of the Bronco, I was amazed at just how great this airplane felt to fly. The controls were a little heavy, yet instantly responsive. A tricky thing to describe, but it felt exactly the way you would hope it would: deliberate and playful. The visibility provided by the bubble canopy was excellent, and it’s easy to see why this airplane was so successful as a reconnaissance and observation aircraft. At this point, perhaps a little bored by my vanilla inputs, Nightingale took back control. In an instant Nightingale had us angled in a descent and picking up speed. Once leveled off, Nightingale put us in a steep turn. As he increased the bank angle he continued to ask me how I was feeling. My responses were as follows: “I’m good,” “oh boy,” and “not great.” Once in straight and level flight again, Nightingale instructed me to reset the G-meter, and I complied while preparing myself to feel the pressure again. Before I knew it, we were in another steep turn. “How’s this?” Nightingale asked. “Great!” I responded. As he increased the bank angle, now at around three Gs, I heard, “How about now?” “Good,” I squeaked. Increasing the bank angle again, we were now at about four Gs, I hear another “How about now?,” from Nightingale, and to save myself from getting sick, I decided to tap out.

From there we buzzed low and fast toward the historic Flabob Airport for a short-field grass touch and go. I was shocked by how much the nose gear compressed when we touched down, but before I could give that a second thought, I was pushed back into my seat as we lifted off again like a rocket and headed to Chino. On touchdown, I noticed again how much the nose gear compressed and how quickly we were able to come to a stop; the landing was like nothing I had ever experienced in a tricycle-gear aircraft. From the nostalgia to the Gs, this was a ride like no other. With all seven of the OV–10 Squadron’s aircraft projects nearing completion, the team plans to continue acquiring more Broncos to keep them flying and fulfilling missions that utilize the aircraft’s unique capabilities for generations to come.

“I’ve been around for years building airplanes,” said Nightingale. “But the growth of all of the companies and the Academy are all due in part to Manclark’s OV–10 Squadon’s willingness to make this into what it is today.”

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