Douglas O2D

The Douglas XO2D-1 was a prototype American observation floatplane of the 1930s, a single-engined biplane intended to be launched by catapult from United States Navy ships; only one was built, and the production contract went to Curtiss for the SOC Seagull. In 1933 the Navy wanted a replacement for the Vought O3U Corsair as its standard catapult-launched observation aircraft and in June of that year ordered a single example of the Douglas design, alongside aircraft from Curtiss and Vought. It was a single-bay sesquiplane with wings that folded for shipboard storage, of all-metal construction, with a crew of two in tandem under an enclosed canopy. It was first flown in March 1934, tested at Anacostia and Naval Air Station Norfolk, rejected in favor of the Curtiss design and withdrawn from use on 13 September 1935.