X

The history of the hush-hush helicopter

The Hughes 500P was about as surreptitious as a chopper could be, and in December 1972, it flew a CIA wiretapping mission into North Vietnam.

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
Expertise AI, tech, language, grammar, writing, editing Credentials
  • 30 years experience at tech and consumer publications, print and online. Five years in the US Army as a translator (German and Polish).
See full bio
Jon Skillings
The Hughes 500, aka the OH-6 Cayuse. Defense Dept.

Helicopters are noisy beasts; it's just in their nature. But for one mission at the tail end of the Vietnam War, a combination of ARPA funds and hard work by the aircraft division of Hughes Tool led to the development of a chopper known as the Quiet One. The Hughes 500P wasn't totally silent, but it was about as surreptitious as a helicopter could be, and in December 1972, it flew in a CIA mission to wiretap a key communications line for North Vietnamese forces. Helicopter historian James R. Chiles (The God Machine) tells the full story of the machine, the men, and the mission.

Read it in Air & Space magazine: "Air America's Black Helicopter"