Ardpol 72-026 Berliner Joyce OJ-2

The Berliner-Joyce OJ-2 was an American reconnaissance and observation aircraft in a fixed landing gear (wheel or float) biplane system and a mixed design from the interwar period and World War II. A prototype flight took place in 1931, and the machine entered the line in 1933. The drive was provided by a single engine Wright R-975-88 Wasp Junior with a power of 400 hp. The machine was 7.82 meters long with a wingspan of 10.26 meters. The deck armament consisted of two machine guns. The machine could also take a load of bombs weighing up to approx. 110 kilograms.

The genesis of the Berliner-Joyce OJ-2 goes back to 1929-1930, when the US Navy decided to purchase a new light observation plane. Several entities entered the competition, from which the Berliner-Joyce label emerged victorious. The machine was characterized by a relatively simple design and rather conservative design assumptions, but it turned out to be quite successful. In total, approximately 40 aircraft were built under the OJ-2 standard. They served, inter alia, as seaplanes on Omaha-class cruisers, but also as training planes. Machines of this type in the second half of the 1930s were moved to the reserve, and by mid-1941 all copies planted by the US Navy were withdrawn from service.