L-9B Stinson 10/ L-9 CAF Headquarters

The Stinson model 10A “Voyager” was a fairly advanced airplane for its size at the time of its introduction in 1940. It has features (built-in leading edge slots and three-position slotted flaps), which were not found on airplanes its size for another 15 years. The Stinson 10A Voyager, as with most "off-the-shelf" models, was drafted into the Armed Forces during World War II and served in a variety of liaison and observation missions. The Army Air Corps initially purchased six Model 10s, designating them Y0-54, for their liaison program in 1940, and in 1942 twenty Model 10As were purchased and served as the L-9B. France placed an order for 600 Voyagers, but few were delivered before the country fell in 1940. Those aircraft that were exported were diverted to Canada and several flew with the Royal Air Force. One Voyager provided air cover during the evacuation of Dunkirk.

At home in the States, this type of light aircraft was used by the Civil Air Patrol off the east coast of the United States looking for German U-boats (submarines) sometimes out of sight of land. CAF planes got bombs and depth charges after a crew watched in vain as a ground sub off Cape Canaveral, FL escaped before the military arrived. CAP Coastal Patrol flew 24 million miles, found 173 subs, attacked 57, hit 10 and sank two. After the war a German commander confirmed that the coastal U-boat operations were withdrawn “because of those damned little red and yellow airplanes.”