In 1941 the United States Army Air Forces ordered four Taylorcraft Ds with the designation YO-57.

They were evaluated in the summer of 1941 during maneuvers in Louisiana and Texas where they were used for support purposes such as light transport and courier.

General Innis P. Swift, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, coined the 'grasshopper' name after witnessing a bumpy landing.

In World War II, the Army Ground Forces began using the L-2 and other liaison aircraft in much the same manner as the observation balloon was used in France during World War I—spotting enemy troop and supply concentrations and directing artillery fire on them.

[2] Postwar, several L-2s were converted for civilian use and are operated by private pilot owners in the United States as the Model DCO-65.