Boeing L-15 Scout

The Boeing L-15 Scout, or YL-15, was a small piston-engined liaison aircraft that Boeing built in small numbers after World War II. A short take-off and landing design powered by a 125 hp Lycoming engine, it was meant to widen Boeing's product line as military aircraft production declined at the war's end. Boeing decided against selling it as a general aviation aircraft, and the twelve built went to the US Army for testing and were then transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. The airframe tapered sharply behind the pilot like a helicopter fuselage, with a high-mounted tail boom and a heavily glazed rear fuselage; spoilers replaced ailerons for lateral control and full-span flaps were fitted. Its maximum speed was only 112 mph, but it could be towed by another aircraft at up to 160 mph.