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The history of the L-4 is best summed up by Ken Wakefield, author of "The
Fighting Grasshoppers" and "Lightplanes at War", who graciously contributed the
following overview of this aircraft: "The Piper L-4 Grasshopper of WW2 was the
military version of the highly popular pre-war J3 Cub, by which name it was more
widely known to service personnel. Of the 5,500 L-4 variants produced between
1942 and 1945, some went to liaison squadrons and of the USAAF, but the vast
majority went to US Army Ground Forces, for use as Air Observation Posts (Air
OPs) with the Field Artillery. In both air and ground forces, the L-4 was also
used as a flying Jeep, among other things carrying priority mail and personnel
between HQs and command posts. Its Continental engine produced only 65hp, yet
the L-4's excellent short field performance enabled it to operate from the
smallest of improvised airstrips, including roads, adjacent to command posts. Unlike most other combat aircraft, the L-4 was
unarmed and unarmoured. It was one of the smallest aircraft of WW2 and, with a
cruising speed of only 75 mph, it was the slowest. Nevertheless, it has been
claimed that a single L-4, directing the fire power of an entire Division, could
bring a greater weight of explosives to bear on a target then any other aircraft
of that period. With the exception of the atomic bomb carrying B-29
Superfortress, no other single aircraft had the destructive capability of the
diminutive L-4. It was most widely used in Europe, where more than 2,700 served
with the Field Artillery, and of these nearly 900 were lost through enemy action
or in accidents. Of those that survived the war, about 150 were shipped back to
the US, most of the remainder eventually being sold to civilian purchasers in
Britain, France, Switzerland, Denmark and elsewhere in Europe. More than 60
years on many of these are still flying with, in recent years, an increasing
number being restored to their original military configuration and markings. A
truly remarkable 'warbird', long to be remembered." So successful was the L-4 that it's military use continued on through to the
Korean War, and as recently as Vietnam. Today, hundreds still fly on as civilian
light aircraft, some as meticulously restored military aircraft and others in
colourful civilian schemes. We hope you enjoy flying this faithful rendition of history. Features: 1. Four models:
- Army Ground
Forces, artillery spotter
- General liaison
- Present day
restored military (with uprated 90hp engine and mixture control)
- Present day
General Aviation (with uprated 90hp engine and mixture control) 2. Carefully researched details and paint schemes (14 in all): WWII:
- 30th Infantry
division
- 2nd Armoured
Division
- 9th Armoured
Division
- 2nd Infantry
Division (D-Day)
- Ninth Air Force,
12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
- No.4 Squadron,
Royal Australian Air Force (Pacific Campaign)
- American
Infantry Division, Bougainville, Solomon Islands (Pacific Campaign)
- French Air Force
liaison Post-War
Pacific
- Royal
Netherland Indies Air Force (ML-KNIL) (1948) Korean War
- General Liaison
(1951) Vietnam War
- 6th Ranger Bien
Hoa III Corp/CTZ (1968) Present day
Restored Military:
- N79731 (25th FA Bn., after a rebuild in Holland from damage suffered
in action with the 407th FA Gp) (2008 Present Day
General Aviation
- G-BEUI (2008)
- G-BPYN (2008) 3. Fully clickable and workable cockpit overall;
4. Luminescent gauge dials for night flying, just like the original;
5. Radio antenna that bends with airspeed;
6. Authentic flight dynamics;
7. Animated crew;
8. All aircraft come with pop-up hand-held radio, GPS and Transponder
9. Paint Kit Please note: The Manual and Paint Kit can be found in the "...Microsoft
Flight Simulator XSimObjectsAirplanesL-4 Grasshopper AGF" folder.
For FSX. | 
