Tested with full-span manoeuvring flaps called zap flaps, spoiler-type ailerons, and horizontal tailplane with variable camber. Photo from: NASA Ames

Boss bird of VS-2 at NAS Quonset Point, which is still under construction. The OS2U was designed to be embarked on warships but, as the 'Neutrality Patrol Star' fuselage roundel indicates, VS-2 was tasked with coastal patrols with its complement of six aircraft, perhaps not all Kingfishers. Photo from: US Navy

Photo taken well before the 12 July 1941 dedication of NAS Quonset Point. The new Building 2 was known as the Neutrality Patrol Hangar. The Kingfisher was used for 'inner patrol', up to 50 miles offshore. US military aircraft did not traditionally wear fuselage roundels. The 'Neutrality Patrol Star' was added from March 1940 on naval aircraft patrolling the USA's Atlantic and Caribbean coastlines. Though the OS2U-2 aircraft are new, the roundel's placement looks like an improvisation. The biplane is a Grumman JF Duck with inter-aileron struts. Photo from: Library of Congress