By Rick Allen Basiliere Jr., EAA 517981
This piece originally ran in the December 2025 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
I have all, as best I can tell, of Oscar’s military history. Thirty pounds of paperwork.
He must have been ordered by the U.S. Air Force in 1968, hence the 68-11157 serial number. He was delivered by a Cessna ferry pilot to the Peoria, Illinois, Air National Guard (ANG) on 4 February 1970. On 8 June 1971 he was delivered to the 110th Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS) in Battle Creek, Michigan. On 15 December 1978 he was ferried to his former base in Peoria. On 21 April 1980, he was flown to his final military base, 23rd TASS at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. On 30 November 1981, it appears he was decommissioned and prepared for long-term storage at DMAFB.
A bill of sale from the USAF to J.W. Duff Aircraft Co. in Denver, Colorado, and the registration N4072D are dated August 1, 1994. The “Special Flight Permit (Storage Aircraft)” was issued on May 19, 1995. The logbook reads “VFR Day, Departure Tucson DMAFB to Greely [sic] Colo via Avra Valley, Tucson, AZ.”
Now, the sad part. 68-11157 and about seven or eight of his brothers from DMAFB languished in the high plains heat with no protection, parked outside Mr. Duff’s Greeley, Colorado (GXY) hangar. Oscar is pictured and referred to with his brothers in the March 1996 Cessna Owner Magazine. Page 30 starts the article by Jim Cavanaugh. As Jim so eloquently stated on page 42, “The asking price for these airplanes is $42,500, and that may cause a few potential buyers to take a giant step backwards.” The O-2As were offered for sale without airworthiness certificates. The USAF is not bothered by such incidentals. It does get hot here, and occasionally it rains or snows.
It was about the middle of September 2013, and I was hanging out with Ken Harris, FBO owner. We were walking across the ramp at GXY, and Ken looks over at me and asks, “Wanna buy an O-2?” With no hesitation I said, “Sure.” I had seen what was to be my Oscar with seven to eight of his brothers sitting outside Bill Duff’s hangar. Ken and I had other stuff to do. It was after lunch, as I remember it, when I asked Ken, “What did I just pay for that O-2?” He informed me; it was a fair price. I then handed Ken’s wife $2,000 to hold the pick of the litter for me. She wrote the receipt on the back of a torn envelope! The odyssey began.
Mr. Duff never did sell even one of the O-2As for the advertised $42,500. Much nicer airplanes, even twins, were available with valid airworthiness certificates. It took Ken and me years to get even a ferry permit from the Denver FSDO!
To ascertain the pick of the litter, I went to all, let’s say eight, O-2As, and pulled their props through, if possible. There were only three that passed that test. I then borescoped all the prospective engines. The borescopes on my Oscar were the best. It was love at third sight you might say. As you should see from the before pictures, Oscar was buried up to the main axles in the local flora and fauna. Ken was the consummate gentleman, and a deal was struck so I could use a corner of his FBO hangar to work on Oscar. I was working as a professional firefighter at the time, and we worked 10 24-hour days each month. Alas, Oscar had my full attention from then on.
Before I could even tow him to the hangar, I had to purchase three new tires and tubes, and both discs and rotors for the brakes. Oh yes, part of the flora and fauna of the Greeley area are invasive and thorny weeds called goatheads. Well, from May 1995 to November 2013, the local avian flocks did their best to compress as many goathead plants into the engine bays as they could. When I opened the engine cowlings, front and rear, I could swear that pterodactyls must still exist in Weld County and had made their nests in Oscar! Eighteen years of nests under construction without any intervention.
In the next two years I replaced every hose and scat tube. I removed and replaced the nose gear after rebuilding. A total of 329 pounds of USAF radios were removed and eventually replaced with some of what I call “black ops” avionics: Dynon EFIS-D6, PFD, two G3X Touches, GTN 750, PMA8000BT, GNC 255A, GTX 330ES, and GMC 507.
The entire fuel system needed to be renewed and some replaced. With all the water that passed by the thermos-type fuel caps, the fuel sump tanks split. I tell anyone who will listen, “There is not any part of the fuel system that doesn’t have my fingerprints on it.”
If you’re an O-2 veteran, I’d love to hear from you — please contact me.
Attention — Aircraft Builders and Restorers
We would love to share your story with your fellow EAA members in the pages of EAA Sport Aviation magazine, even if it’s a project that’s been completed for a while. Readers consistently rate the “What Our Members are Building/Restoring” section of the magazine as one of their favorites, so don’t miss the chance to show off your handiwork and inspire your peers to start or complete projects of their own. Learn more ->