Stinson L-5 Sentinel          VT-CBV     (c/n  76-1793)


                                    

                                            I debated whether to put the L-5 in the Classic section or wait until I upload the ex-Military
                                            images.  However, since it was allocated a civilian Approved Type Certificate (ATC # 764)
                                            I decided that it should really be included here. Originally ordered as the O-62, the classification
                                            was changed to L-5 in 1943.   Over 4,000 were produced from 1942 until 1945 and they served
                                            in virtually every theater of WW II.  Known colloquially as 'Grasshoppers' or, in the case of the
                                            L-5, as the 'Flying Jeep', they were an extremely hardy aircraft capable of handling an amazing
                                            amount of punishment.   This particular example (ex USAAC 42-99552) was one of hundreds
                                            supplied to the RAF under Lend Lease where it became KJ 391 and was shipped out to the
                                            South East Asia (Burma) front.  After the war it stayed in India and was used to form the nucleus
                                            of the Madras Flying Club.