Special Ops Hughes 500.

[500 Fan]

I came across a photo a few days ago of a very interesting Hughes 500 that might have been operated by the most secretive of C.I.A. units, codenamed Seaspray. I started up a thread on ARC and it has a link to the photo in question. This unit has existed since around 1980 but I think this might be the very first photo of one of their Hughes 500s to come into the public domain. Have a look if you like exotic helicopters;


http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=242326


I hope this is of interest. Thanks.


500 Fan.

 

[RavenOne]

According to Wings of the CIA by Frederic Lert, the Seaspray MD500 were used for in and out ops in Beirut during the early 80s.

 

[quellish]

I came across a photo a few days ago of a very interesting Hughes 500 that might have been operated by the most secretive of C.I.A. units, codenamed Seaspray. I started up a thread on ARC and it has a link to the photo in question. This unit has existed since around 1980 but I think this might be the very first photo of one of their Hughes 500s to come into the public domain. Have a look if you like exotic helicopters;


http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=242326


I hope this is of interest. Thanks.


500 Fan.

There were photos published in the 1980s in either Newsweek or US news and World report as part of the reporting on Yellow Fruit. One photo showed a white civilian 500 with planks in a banked turn.

Fun fact: SEASPRAY was the black unit, TF160 was the cover!

 

[500 Fan]

Thanks for that info. It'd be nice to see those photos. If anyone has a copy of the magazines mentioned, please share if possible. Thanks.

500 Fan.

 

[Leibolmai]

I can't get to that link. Googling Seaspray though got some good pics at the drive.

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/22879/this-ghost-of-a-helicopter-likely-had-a-secret-role-in-reagans-tear-down-this-wall-speech

Which reminded me of the Quiet one, which I believe is discussed elsewhere on this board.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/the-cia-built-a-special-helicopter-to-sneak-into-north-vietnam-b1bb0ea35a7b

--Leibolmai

 

[RavenOne]

Also here Is an interesting article on how MD500, Little Bird reg N111U sighted at Frankfurt am Main International in 1987 Part of Reagans Cold War victory in Europe.

This Ghost Of A Helicopter Likely Had A Secret Role In Reagan’s ‘Tear Down This Wall’ Speech

All the available information we've uncovered indicates that this helicopter was assigned to a top-secret covert aviation unit called Seaspray.

www.thedrive.com

 

[yasotay]

There have been, and likely are any number of Seaspray like organizations. Multitudinous if you count "contract" companies.