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Taylorcraft L-2

The L-2 Grasshopper was a high-wing observation and liaison aircraft built by the Taylorcraft Aviation Company, capable of carrying a pilot and observer.  It entered service in 1941 under the designation O-57 but was later reclassed the L-2 in 1942, per reference [8].  A total of 1,984 of all types of this aircraft were built with units serving in the armed forces of the United States, France, Haiti, and the Netherlands East Indies (post war).

As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;
L-2
[Image Sources: US Government/Public Domain via Ref [16] - as annotated by this site]

AT-19
[Source: Ref [8] - US Government/Public Domain]

In order to try and better develop weight estimating relationships an effort has been made to estimate the length of the fuselage aft of the firewall, and the length of the engine section forward of the firewall based off scaled drawings.  Together these two distances add to a term called the "structural length" and do not consider any portion of the engine or propeller shaft the extend foward of the fuselage/cowling, or any empennage that extends aft of the fuselage structure.  The drawing below shows the current best estimate of these dimensions obtained from available drawings of the airplane and will be updated with any real world data that becomes available.  For any aircraft with an inclined firewall, an attempt has been made to locate an approximate center of this location.

L2 Dims
                                                                Source References [8] & [16]

In the above images, dimensions in Black come from the source material while dimesions in Red have been approximated from the data available.


The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data


    L-2A
Secondary Sources Notes
Primary Source   16


No of Crew   2


Engine:    

   Qty   1

   Model   O-145-A1


   Displacement  (cu in) 145


   Power    

     Military (HP)  

     War Emergency (HP)  

    Normal (HP) 65


    Take Off (HP) 65


   Eng Dims    

     Length (ft) 2.58


     Width/Dia (ft) 2.63

     Height (ft) 2.44


   Base Engine Wt (lb) 170


Propeller    

   # Blades   2

   Dia (ft) 6.92


   Manufacturer   Fixed

   Type    

Wing    

   Span (ft)  35.44

   Root Thickness (%)  12% 

  (in)  7.56

   Total Area  (sq ft) 181


     Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps) (sq ft)  

     Ailerons (sq ft)  

     Flaps (sq ft)  

Tail Area (sq ft) 36.14

   V Tail Area (sq ft) 13.64

     Fin (sq ft)  6.41

     Rudder (sq ft)  7.23

   H Tail Area (sq ft)  22.50

     Stabilizer (sq ft)  12.53

     Elevator (sq ft)  9.97

Total Control Surf Area (sq ft)  17.20

Length    

   Overall (ft) 29.50

   Fuselage (ft) 22.75


   Body  (ft)  

     Body Depth (ft) 4.17

    Body Width (ft) 2.40

Fuel Tank Volume (gal)  

   Wing Tanks (gal)  

    FuselageTanks (gal)  

Oil Tank Volume (gal)  

Water Injection Fluid Tank Volume (gal)  

Wetted Area (sqf) (sq ft)  

Pwr Ldng (lb/HP)


Wing Ldng (lb/sq ft)


Struct. Des. GW  (lb)


Ultimate Load Factor (G's)  

Design Speed (mph)


Not to Exceed Speed (mph) 140

     

Total Struct Weight   434.6


   Total Wing   243.8


     Wing   188.8

     Ailerons    16.1

     Flaps
   

     Struts
   38.9

   Tail    


     H Tail   23,6


       Stabilizer   14.1


       Elevator    9.5 

     V Tail   7.5


       Fin   3.4


       Rudder    4.1 

     Wires    1.6 

   Body + Eng Section + LG    

   Body + LG  


   Body   199.1


     Fuselage   182.4


     Engine Section    16.8

   Landing Gear    59.1


     Mn Landing Gr    50.8


     Tail/Nose Aux LG    8.3


   Tail Hook    

   Booms    

   Nacelles    

Total Propulsion Weight   226.8


   Engine w/ Accessories   204.0


   Engine(s) as Installed   192.9


     Accessories   11.1


    Turbocharger(s)    

   Controls   3.4


   Propeller(s)   9.5


     2-Blade   9.5


     3-Blade    

     4-Blade    

   Starting System   20.7


   Water Injection System    

     Tanks    

     Piping Etc    

   Cooling System    

   Lube System  


     Tanks  


     Piping Etc  


   Fuel System   9.9


     Tanks   3.9


     Piping Etc   6.1


Total Sys. & Eqpmt.   100.5


   Instruments   6.8


   Surface Controls    19.6


   Hydraulics     

   Electrical Equip   24.9


Electronics (Purple means incl in Furn/Gray in Useful Ld)   30.5 

   Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor    

    Furnishings   18.8


   Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)    

   Other /Misc    

     Hoisting Gear    

     Floatation Gear    

     Armor Plate    

     

Empty Wt   861.9


Basic Mission Useful Load   438.1


   Crew   400.0

   Equipment    

   Oil   33.0

   Fuel   255.0


   Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems    

   Water Solution for Engine Injection    

   Bombs/Torp Etc    

   Radio (if Not Included in Empty Wt)    

   Nav Equipment    

   Oxygen System    

   Armament    

     Guns & Ammo    

       Guns    

       Ammo    

     Pyrotechnics    

     Camera    

     Other    6.6

   Other Useful Load    

Basic Mission GW   1300.0



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Rev 4-12-26

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