Painted in the SVNAF colours it wore in the mid-1970s, this Bird Dog was taken on strength as an O-1A by the US Army as 51-4981 in 1951. In 1966 Cessna converted it to O-1G at Wichita and it was deployed to Vietnam. On 29 April 1975 a SVNAF major crammed his wife and five children aboard to escape advancing North Vietnamese forces. Flying out to sea in the hope of finding a rescue ship, he ran low on fuel but spotted USS Midway, its deck full with helicopters. He dropped a pleading note written on a chart and a number of Hueys and Chinooks were pushed over the side so he could land!

Actual serial number was SVNAF 51-4981. This aircraft fled from the advancing N. Vietnamese in 1975 with 7 people on board and landed on USS Midway while at sea. (Note: A different Bird Dog, painted to represent this aircraft, was put on display at the USS Midway Museum, San Diego/CA.)