Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Cessna Model: O-1/L-19. Nickname: Birddog
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane SE Land
> Engine Description: Single O-470B 212 HP
Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/3/2025. (and counting!)
> Number of Hours Flown: 530 hrs
> Number of Times Flown: 399 (and rapidly increasing)
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: OE-1, OE-2
First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 108
> Date First Flown: 6/30/2000
> Location First Flown: Carson City, NV
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Hibbard
Recollections: My first flight in a Birddog–much to my surprise while reviewing my logbook many years later–was in 2000 as part of a Qual Eval during a staff field trip. I simply didn’t remember the flight. Logbook shows 3 landings and, I suppose, it’s a good sign that I don’t remember. I guess my Beaver time as a TPS IP meant I could handle the Birddog, an airplane I later came to own and love. I actually had NO information in my logbook about this flight but I was talking recently to a great friend, Dan “Shaka” Hinson (Ops O during my time at TPS, now a VP at Textron) about Textron hosting the Birddog’s 75th anniversary and he mentioned this same qual eval, and provided me with the location and pilot we flew with. Small world!
Fast forward 20 years for my SECOND flight in a Birddog. This one was with Mark Cardwell, a Fedex Captain who lives near Memphis, TN and gives of his time by taking people interested in the Birddog flying, to see if they like the airplane. My great friend Fred Quarnstrom and I had decided to partner on an L-19/O-1 and we decided we should go fly one to make sure we liked it. Mark bravely got in the back of his airplane and off we went. Well, I just LOVED the airplane, it handled so nice (you might think a “Cessna’s a cessna” but something about having the Birddog’s stick in your right hand just makes it fly better) and so Fred and I decided to take the plunge and buy a Birddog. For me, this would be the first plane I’d owned and I had some trepidation about getting in over my head….as I’d always had professionals ensuring the airworthiness of the aircraft I flew. Not only did Mark take us flying, as it turned out he found us the right airplane to buy. Mark asked us “have you found an airplane yet?” and, despite having been scouring every source of Birddogs for sale and even made trips to Texas and California to see specific airplanes on the market, we hadn’t found a plane yet so we said “not yet”. Mark: “Well, you should go talk to Steve over there; Steve’s got a Birddog and he’ll sell anything he owns.” So, we went and introduced ourselves to Steve Stires, also a Fedex Captain (seemed like everybody we met was a Fedex Captain!) After some discussion, we bought Steve’s Birddog, a gorgeous 1958 French O-1E that had been completely restored. Covid got in the way but, later that year I went and picked up N4848M from the Olive Branch, MS airport and flew her back to Seattle. Since then she’s travelled to Oshkosh 4 times, Texas a 5th long trip and brought us so much joy. For me, the concern I felt about airplane ownership has totally disappeared because the plane has been generally reliable and, when it falls short, I have learned a great deal about airplanes and how to fix problems that arise. I enjoy taking “young eagles” and other friends flying in her, meeting those who flew and maintained the Birddog, and keeping the history alive. And, along the way, the Birddog has become one of my “top 10” aircraft.
