Special Operations Hughes/MD500s - Not 160th SOAR!

[FM-Whip]

http://aircraft.faa.gov/e.gov/nd/

Even if the aircraft is in use with a government agency, if it has a civilian registration it has to conform to all airworthiness laws. That means that all modifications have to be approved and the FAA records updated to include these changes.

This is incorrect. US government aircraft (even with N numbers) do NOT have to conform to all airworthiness laws. In fact they are specifically exempted (with some exceptions) in Federal law. Some may conform, some may not, but they are not completely required to. If they are operated "for commercial purposes" they are required to conform to some but not all of the FARs. Some public use aircraft can fly without an FAA civil airworthiness certificate, and their pilots don't even have to have a valid civilian license. For details see FAA Advisory Circular 00-1.1.

Quote from FAA AC 20-169: "Aircraft operated by the military are by statute public-use aircraft and are not subject to the civil regulatory requirements for certification, maintenance, and operation. Aircraft operated by U.S. government agencies (including the FAA) are also public-use aircraft and may also be exempt from compliance with civil airworthiness regulations, and to some extent, operational regulations."

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

[AH6C-SIP]

That yellowish strip is a luminescent low-viz formation light. They are identical to what was installed on early model AH/MH-6's.

Yes, they were referred to as "slime lights" because they were a gooey green color. You could judge your angle off another aircraft by watching the lights... early model NVG's like 5's or 6's, even the Litton 909's of the era. The other slime light, on our AH/MH aircraft was mounted on the FM antenae mount under the tailboom. Happy New Year to all. GT

[Loach Driver]

Here is another helicopter that I have a few photos of that might have an "interesting" history. It is a fairly ordinary-looking MD530FF. First the photos.

Looking at the pictures, there is little or nothing to suggest that this might have been a C.I.A. 530F. The few minor things that hint towards special use are:

1. The plain Jane paint scheme. This style of paint scheme is of the type of finish we might expect to see on a C.I.A. helicopter. Nothing spectacular that might draw any kind of attention from aircraft spotters or aircraft photographers.

2. Antenna fit. Very little to go on here, except for the single white aerial on the rear fuselage belly. A place that aerials usually aren't fitted on the 500 series. Usually, under-fuselage aerials are grouped around the forward belly and nose area.

3. Footsteps for the rear compartment are only fitted in one of the three photos. On a standard private or commercial 530F, steps would more often than not be fitted.

4. No cargo hook. The 530F is used primarily by three distinct groups of operators, (1) Law Enforcement, (2) Commercial Operators and (3) Government Operators or Contractors. Given that the 530F is, broadly speaking, over-powered, it is favoured by commercial operators for external-load work and most commercially-operated 530Fs have a cargo hook fitted. Again, this helicopter could have been in private ownership before being sold.

5. Low skids. Low Skids seem to be the undercarriage of choice for most "special" 530F operators, with Blackwater and the DOS being the two exceptions. It appears that the majority of the 530Fs built have been fitted with tall skids.

6. The blanked-out registration number in two of the photos. It's not uncommon to see blanked-out registration number on an aircraft up for sale but perhaps the original owner didn't want their identity or the aircraft identity going into general circulation.

7. A small internet "footprint" for this aircraft. There is very little information on the history of this aircraft from the time it left the factory until it went up for sale in the mid- to late-2000's. The only photos I've seen of this aircraft are the three here, which all appeared on "Helicopter for Sale" websites. If this helicopter was out and about at ordinary public airports in the U.S. on a regular basis, surely more photos would exist of it on the web?

So far, there isn't much to link this airframe to the C.I.A. or any other operator that could be classed as being "special". However, there are a couple of things concerning the registration that might point towards previous C.I.A. use of this helicopter.

1. First off, it isn't possible (yet) to identify the operator of the aircraft while it was N7039Q but it was sold and took up the registration N974BW and was operated by guess who? The answer lies in the last two letters in its new reg; Blackwater. Would the C.I.A. have sold this helicopter to Blackwater, a government contractor? I'd say so and Blackwater would have kept the helicopter's previous use under wraps. The very interesting thing about the photo featuring the registration is the comment on the website that was advertising the helicopter for sale. I can't recall exactly what the comment was but they did make reference to the fact that the helicopter "had just finished work on a government contract".

2. The really interesting thing about this helicopter is the registration itself. N7039Q is now assigned to a Mil Mi-17V5 operated by R J Harroff Business Associates Llc. I don't know who R J Harroff are but they also operate or operated N353RH, a Mil Mi-8 MTV-1 that is widely regarded as being a C.I.A. aircraft that has been used in either Afghanistan or Iraq. Are R J Harroff a cover company for C.I.A. aviation? It looks like that is possibly the case and it is also possible that they disposed of one aircraft and retained the registration and applied it to another airframe.

So there you have it. I have added 2 plus 2 and come up with 6! There is no concrete evidence to link this helicopter to the C.I.A. but there is lots of microscopic evidence that points in that direction. If anyone can find more photos of N7039Q or details of it use pre-Blackwater, I'd love to see them. Incidentally, this aircraft was lost in 2009 in a training accident while flying with BW, sadly resulting in the loss of the two pilots.

LD.

Edit; Here is the text from the sales advert for this aircraft, mentioned above.

"2000 model 530 FF with only 871 hours total time, just off a govt contract.This is a 1.2million dollar machine offered at950k."

The photos above and advert date from 2004, incidentally.

Edited January 21, 2014 by Loach Driver

[FM-Whip]

Looking at the pictures, there is little or nothing to suggest that this might have been a C.I.A. 530F. The few minor things that hint towards special use are:

1. The plain Jane paint scheme. This style of paint scheme is of the type of finish we might expect to see on a C.I.A. helicopter. Nothing spectacular that might draw any kind of attention from aircraft spotters or aircraft photographers.

2. Antenna fit. Very little to go on here, except for the single white aerial on the rear fuselage belly. A place that aerials usually aren't fitted on the 500 series. Usually, under-fuselage aerials are grouped around the forward belly and nose area.

3. Footsteps for the rear compartment are only fitted in one of the three photos. On a standard private or commercial 530F, steps would more often than not be fitted.

4. No cargo hook. The 530F is used primarily by three distinct groups of operators, (1) Law Enforcement, (2) Commercial Operators and (3) Government Operators or Contractors. Given that the 530F is, broadly speaking, over-powered, it is favoured by commercial operators for external-load work and most commercially-operated 530Fs have a cargo hook fitted. Again, this helicopter could have been in private ownership before being sold.

5. Low skids. Low Skids seem to be the undercarriage of choice for most "special" 530F operators, with Blackwater and the DOS being the two exceptions. It appears that the majority of the 530Fs built have been fitted with tall skids.

6. The blanked-out registration number in two of the photos. It's not uncommon to see blanked-out registration number on an aircraft up for sale but perhaps the original owner didn't want their identity or the aircraft identity going into general circulation.

7. A small internet "footprint" for this aircraft. There is very little information on the history of this aircraft from the time it left the factory until it went up for sale in the mid- to late-2000's. The only photos I've seen of this aircraft are the three here, which all appeared on "Helicopter for Sale" websites. If this helicopter was out and about at ordinary public airports in the U.S. on a regular basis, surely more photos would exist of it on the web?

So far, there isn't much to link this airframe to the C.I.A. or any other operator that could be classed as being "special". However, there are a couple of things concerning the registration that might point towards previous C.I.A. use of this helicopter.

1. First off, it isn't possible (yet) to identify the operator of the aircraft while it was N7039Q but it was sold and took up the registration N974BW and was operated by guess who? The answer lies in the last two letters in its new reg; Blackwater. Would the C.I.A. have sold this helicopter to Blackwater, a government contractor? I'd say so and Blackwater would have kept the helicopter's previous use under wraps. The very interesting thing about the photo featuring the registration is the comment on the website that was advertising the helicopter for sale. I can't recall exactly what the comment was but they did make reference to the fact that the helicopter "had just finished work on a government contract".

2. The really interesting thing about this helicopter is the registration itself. N7039Q is now assigned to a Mil Mi-17V5 operated by R J Harroff Business Associates Llc. I don't know who R J Harroff are but they also operate or operated N353RH, a Mil Mi-8 MTV-1 that is widely regarded as being a C.I.A. aircraft that has been used in either Afghanistan or Iraq. Are R J Harroff a cover company for C.I.A. aviation? It looks like that is possibly the case and it is also possible that they disposed of one aircraft and retained the registration and applied it to another airframe.

So there you have it. I have added 2 plus 2 and come up with 6! There is no concrete evidence to link this helicopter to the C.I.A. but there is lots of microscopic evidence that points in that direction. If anyone can find more photos of N7039Q or details of it use pre-Blackwater, I'd love to see them. Incidentally, this aircraft was lost in 2009 in a training accident while flying with BW, sadly resulting in the loss of the two pilots.

LD.

"R.J. Harroff Business Associates, LLC" has a Bethesda, MD address. I looked it up in the MD state corporation database. The state records indicate that "TIMOTHY P. SCHWARTZ, ESQUIRE" was the registering company agent. That person is a lawyer with "BBS&G Attorneys", and guess what their address is? Same as Harroff's. The paper trail begins and ends at the same address. It's like the previous company on this thread which I tracked down to a mail drop address.

A French-language website has Harroff tied to ARINC and as a CIA contractor or front company, but I don't know how valid that is.

N974BW was registered to Aviation Worldwide Services LLC, an umbrella corporation which ran several aviation-related enterprises which were owned by Blackwater. 974BW was being operated by Presidential Airways when it went down in Iraq in 2009. Presidential Airways was part of AWS. AWS was later sold to AAR.

7039Q/974BW had a C/N of 0139FF. I can't find anything specific to that airframe. Based on my other info it may have been built in 1995.

See also:

http://news.gaeatimes.com/2-killed-as-state-department-security-helicopter-crashes-outside-baghdad-113078/

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/two-die-after-xe-helicopter-crash-iraq-friday

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

Edited January 4, 2014 by FM-Whip

[Loach Driver]

The current thread on American Hueys in Latin America has made reference to these four photos of unidentified Hughes 500Ds believed to have been operated by the "Agency" in El Salvador. Rather than posting them in a Huey thread, I thought it might be better to gather all unidentified Hughes/MD500s that appear to be Special Ops machinery in this thread. The original title for this thread has been modified to reflect the broader content of this thread now.

These photos are not mine and were saved from a now-defunct website. The original poster made reference to these helicopters being "OH-8" which was an early designation for special ops 500Ds (or is it Es).

LD.

P.S. Rod posted up this little bit of info regarding CIA helis in El Salvador markings in the "Info Wanted Huey" thread. Presumably these Hueys flew in conjunction with these 500Ds and whatever fixed-wing assets were deployed on this operation.

"The CIA Hueys used in ES were painted CARC and had El Salvadoran AF markings, there were only 2, and both had all the ASE gear on. They were operated by american pilots and crew.

Im still looking for photos, they are hard to find, kinda classified.

Rod."

Edited October 12, 2015 by Loach Driver

[salvador001]

Great photos LD.

Those 500D are El Salvador AF birds, they were acquired via civilian sources, thats why the paint scheme, but some say they might have been used by the CIA. There is another 500D with the same paint scheme like the blue and silver one but in red and white. El Salvador AF received 6 500D and 11 500E during the 1980s. Ill post some photos later.

Rod.

Edited September 23, 2015 by salvador001

[11bee]

Here is another helicopter that I have a few photos of that might have an "interesting" history. It is a fairly ordinary-looking MD530FF. First the photos.

Looking at the pictures, there is little or nothing to suggest that this might have been a C.I.A. 530F. The few minor things that hint towards special use are:

Thanks for bringing this very interesting thread back to life. Just noted your post above. Can't add much but am curious - are those small "slime lights" on the tailboom?

Edited September 23, 2015 by 11bee

[Loach Driver]

Hi 11bee. The white item on the forward section of the tailboom is a label (I think) that is present on many factory-fresh 500Ds, Es and Fs. I think there is a circular inspection panel where the label is to inspect one of the tail rotor drive-shaft bearing hangers. I think the smaller white item further back along the tailboom is also a label of some kind. Sadly, there is very little to indicate what exact role it might have been used for when it was (allegedly) with the "See-Eye-Ay"!

LD.

[AH6C-SIP]

I'd love to know where that other picture resides. Also, if you check out the pinned AH-6C thread you'll see a couple of very unique pics of early MH-6's. The guys in back are also wearing standard civie clothing - jeans, etc.

No doubt the choice of attire varied greatly depending on the mission.

Little history here... the first MH-6's we rcv'd in the 160th had the civilian paint schemes that had been sprayed over with the low reflective paint shown in this photo. When removing the inspections panels on the T/B you could still see the Magnum PI paint jobs underneath. This would have been in the Summer of 1981. You can see the civilian skids with nav lights on the skid toes. Definitely a C-30, slime lights and the light on the T-tail top is an IR light. Serious load of antenna's and no FM whip antenna like on TF aircraft. The unit at Eustis received their 500's before the TF did. Somewhere between Jan and Jun of 1981. I'd bet that LD is pretty much spot on who's aircraft this was.

My link

Edited September 24, 2015 by AH6C-SIP

[11bee]

Little history here... the first MH-6's we rcv'd in the 160th had the civilian paint schemes that had been sprayed over with the low reflective paint shown in this photo. When removing the inspections panels on the T/B you could still see the Magnum PI paint jobs underneath. This would have been in the Summer of 1981. You can see the civilian skids with nav lights on the skid toes. Definitely a C-30, slime lights and the light on the T-tail top is an IR light. Serious load of antenna's and no FM whip antenna like on TF aircraft. The unit at Eustis received their 500's before the TF did. Somewhere between Jan and Jun of 1981. I'd bet that LD is pretty much spot on who's aircraft this was.

My link

Nice pic. Good to know that the 160th invented lie-flat sleeper seats long before they came into vogue on the business class section of airliners.

[AH6C-SIP]

As many of the regulars here know, I love anything to do with the Hughes 500 and OH-6 series of helicopters. It is a strange affliction that sees me cruising the net looking for interesting photos of these helicopters almost everyday. I usually find something interesting, a nice 500 in a sharp colour scheme or maybe a slightly rare photo of some prototype OH-6 or other. Yesterday, I found a photo on an aviation photo gallery that might just be my greatest find. Ever!

(That's some intro, huh?.)

So, without further ado, I would like to present to you a link to the photo in question. Click on it, open it and enjoy this beauty. When you are done looking, pick your jaw up off the ground and please carefully read the next few sentence directly below the link.

http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=961314

I don't know what you think this helicopter is, but I reckon this might possibly be a SEASPRAY Hughes 500! I told you it was good. OK, the next bit is very important. I reckon this photo is going to generate a lot of interest, both on this forum and soon on other forums. Our natural interest in all things "special" is probably going to have people doing a google search on the registration N1111U. That search will show up the other registration numbers assigned to this airframe, including the current registration number. Do a search with that reg number and you will find the name of a company who are currently the registered owners of this airframe. I did all these searches and found the newer reg numbers and the name of that company. I jumped to the conclusion that this company MUST be yet another CIA cover company. There is another possibility, though. This helicopter might now be no longer in use in Special Ops. It might be doing normal, everyday, commercial work with a legitimate commercial helicopter company or it might even be privately-owned, stripped of all the special equipment we see in the photo and flying in the hands of a private pilot. For these reasons, I would ask everyone who adds a comment on this thread to not mention the CURRENT REGISTRATION NUMBER of this helicopter or mention the NAME OF THE COMPANY listed as OWNER of this helicopter in this thread. I think it is probably OK to speculate on the equipment fit of the helicopter in the photo and what its mission was but I believe it is unfair to associate this helicopter and its current owner to any form of special operations when we don't know the full story. Maybe I am being paranoid, but I think this is an important point. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this post. I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do.

LD.

Hi all, I've looked at the picture and the answer might be here at this interesting article, The Special Forces Build-Up. Start at this paragraph, "The Elite within the Elite" and read on, I can attest this is accurate... 'cause I'm old enough to remember it all, starting with FOG. My link

I would believe your reading would conclude that this aircraft would be??? pre Flight Concepts, pre Sea Spray,... "YF"

Happy Hunting! More as it happens! GT

Edited October 6, 2015 by AH6C-SIP

[11bee]

Hi all, I've looked at the picture and the answer might be here at this interesting article, The Special Forces Build-Up. Start at this paragraph, "The Elite within the Elite" and read on, I can attest this is accurate... 'cause I'm old enough to remember it all, starting with FOG. My link

I would believe your reading would conclude that this aircraft would be??? pre Flight Concepts, pre Sea Spray,... "YF"

Happy Hunting! More as it happens! GT

You would think that after all these years, the veil of secrecy would be lifted just a bit...

Still want to build a model of that H500 one day.

[FM-Whip]

You would think that after all these years, the veil of secrecy would be lifted just a bit...

Still want to build a model of that H500 one day.

The single best source of information for the non-160th covert aviation programs is still Stephen Emerson's book "Secret Warriors: Inside the Covert Military Operations of the Reagan Era". The book is dated but still important in that it was written during the period and was based in part on interviews with the participants. For many years the book was difficult to find and ran around $400. I see that prices have moderated somewhat.

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Warriors-Inside-Military-Operations/dp/0399133607

Also, the declassified ISA/Yellow Fruit/Seaspray papers at the George Washington University National Security Archives makes for some interesting reading.

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

[AH6C-SIP]

You would think that after all these years, the veil of secrecy would be lifted just a bit...

Still want to build a model of that H500 one day.

You will never top your effort on 191 my friend. That build was so true to life, you'd never come close without someone with first had knowledge of the aircraft, as we did together.

Regards, GT

[11bee]

You will never top your effort on 191 my friend. That build was so true to life, you'd never come close without someone with first had knowledge of the aircraft, as we did together.

Regards, GT

Thanks GT, means a lot coming from the guy who flew the real thing. If you are ever up in the Peeple's Republic of MA, give me a shout - she's yours. I love projects that have some deeper connection, that's why I've been having so much satisfaction building that Navy Reserve US-2B Tracker that crashed in a nearby town when I was a kid. Half the project was just going through the incident reports, walking the crash site, etc.

Anyway, I digress. You seem to have some "connections" in certain communities, maybe one day you'll run across the guy who flew N1111U. If so, send him my way! Or for that matter, given some talk about new 1/35th AH-1G / UH-1H kits, if you have any pics of the ships you flew, post 'em. Might be the starting point for a future project.

[Floyd S. Werner, Jr.]

As many of the regulars here know, I love anything to do with the Hughes 500 and OH-6 series of helicopters. It is a strange affliction that sees me cruising the net looking for interesting photos of these helicopters almost everyday. I usually find something interesting, a nice 500 in a sharp colour scheme or maybe a slightly rare photo of some prototype OH-6 or other. Yesterday, I found a photo on an aviation photo gallery that might just be my greatest find. Ever!

(That's some intro, huh?.)

So, without further ado, I would like to present to you a link to the photo in question. Click on it, open it and enjoy this beauty. When you are done looking, pick your jaw up off the ground and please carefully read the next few sentence directly below the link.

http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=961314

I don't know what you think this helicopter is, but I reckon this might possibly be a SEASPRAY Hughes 500! I told you it was good. OK, the next bit is very important. I reckon this photo is going to generate a lot of interest, both on this forum and soon on other forums. Our natural interest in all things "special" is probably going to have people doing a google search on the registration N1111U. That search will show up the other registration numbers assigned to this airframe, including the current registration number. Do a search with that reg number and you will find the name of a company who are currently the registered owners of this airframe. I did all these searches and found the newer reg numbers and the name of that company. I jumped to the conclusion that this company MUST be yet another CIA cover company. There is another possibility, though. This helicopter might now be no longer in use in Special Ops. It might be doing normal, everyday, commercial work with a legitimate commercial helicopter company or it might even be privately-owned, stripped of all the special equipment we see in the photo and flying in the hands of a private pilot. For these reasons, I would ask everyone who adds a comment on this thread to not mention the CURRENT REGISTRATION NUMBER of this helicopter or mention the NAME OF THE COMPANY listed as OWNER of this helicopter in this thread. I think it is probably OK to speculate on the equipment fit of the helicopter in the photo and what its mission was but I believe it is unfair to associate this helicopter and its current owner to any form of special operations when we don't know the full story. Maybe I am being paranoid, but I think this is an important point. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this post. I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do.

LD.

Soon you'll be able to do this aircraft with decals. Werner's Wings will be releasing a Task Force 160th third sheet of late additions, aircraft that just didn't make the other sheets for space reasons. It will be a smaller sheet but we included this aircraft serial number, N1111U, because we can. LOL It will also have the corrected Razor 1 decals. It is amazing some of the stuff you get AFTER you release something.

Floyd

Edited October 7, 2015 by Floyd S. Werner, Jr.

[salvador001]

May i ask which bird is N1111U?

Rod.

[HeavyArty]

May i ask which bird is N1111U?

Rod.

[salvador001]

Damn, what an awesome little bird, i forgot it.

Thanks Gino.

Rod.

[AH6C-SIP]

Thanks GT, means a lot coming from the guy who flew the real thing. If you are ever up in the Peeple's Republic of MA, give me a shout - she's yours. I love projects that have some deeper connection, that's why I've been having so much satisfaction building that Navy Reserve US-2B Tracker that crashed in a nearby town when I was a kid. Half the project was just going through the incident reports, walking the crash site, etc.

Anyway, I digress. You seem to have some "connections" in certain communities, maybe one day you'll run across the guy who flew N1111U. If so, send him my way! Or for that matter, given some talk about new 1/35th AH-1G / UH-1H kits, if you have any pics of the ships you flew, post 'em. Might be the starting point for a future project.

Will do J. And I can be your AH-1G SME as well. I'll try and get you a photobucket link to some of them. Maybe you can do a model of the time I lost my tail rotor. Best regards, GT

[Loach Driver]

Hi all, I've looked at the picture and the answer might be here at this interesting article, The Special Forces Build-Up. Start at this paragraph, "The Elite within the Elite" and read on, I can attest this is accurate... 'cause I'm old enough to remember it all, starting with FOG. My link

I would believe your reading would conclude that this aircraft would be??? pre Flight Concepts, pre Sea Spray,... "YF"

Happy Hunting! More as it happens! GT

Hi GT. Thanks for the info in that link. It has some new information that I hadn't read before. The mention of a Special Ops Unit being based in West Germany is very interesting. That might well be another explanation for N1111U being photographed in Germany in 1987. Perhaps the unit flying this 500 was ordinarily based in West Germany and were called into service to support the Commander-in-Chief's visit. That might explain why the helicopter was "caught out in the open" in broad daylight.

LD.

[Loach Driver]

The single best source of information for the non-160th covert aviation programs is still Stephen Emerson's book "Secret Warriors: Inside the Covert Military Operations of the Reagan Era". The book is dated but still important in that it was written during the period and was based in part on interviews with the participants. For many years the book was difficult to find and ran around $400. I see that prices have moderated somewhat.

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Warriors-Inside-Military-Operations/dp/0399133607

Also, the declassified ISA/Yellow Fruit/Seaspray papers at the George Washington University National Security Archives makes for some interesting reading.

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

Hi John. Thanks for the tip in relation to that book. I found one at a reasonable price and have ordered it.

I'd love to see what is in the files at George Washington University National Security Archives.

LD.

[scottr5213]

As many of the regulars here know, I love anything to do with the Hughes 500 and OH-6 series of helicopters. It is a strange affliction that sees me cruising the net looking for interesting photos of these helicopters almost everyday. I usually find something interesting, a nice 500 in a sharp colour scheme or maybe a slightly rare photo of some prototype OH-6 or other. Yesterday, I found a photo on an aviation photo gallery that might just be my greatest find. Ever!

(That's some intro, huh?.)

So, without further ado, I would like to present to you a link to the photo in question. Click on it, open it and enjoy this beauty. When you are done looking, pick your jaw up off the ground and please carefully read the next few sentence directly below the link.

http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=961314

I don't know what you think this helicopter is, but I reckon this might possibly be a (U.S. Army) SEASPRAY Hughes 500! I told you it was good. OK, the next bit is very important. I reckon this photo is going to generate a lot of interest, both on this forum and soon on other forums. Our natural interest in all things "special" is probably going to have people doing a google search on the registration N1111U. That search will show up the other registration numbers assigned to this airframe, including the current registration number. Do a search with that reg number and you will find the name of a company who are currently the registered owners of this airframe. I did all these searches and found the newer reg numbers and the name of that company. I jumped to the conclusion that this company MUST be yet another cover company. There is another possibility, though. This helicopter might now be no longer in use in Special Ops. It might be doing normal, everyday, commercial work with a legitimate commercial helicopter company or it might even be privately-owned, stripped of all the special equipment we see in the photo and flying in the hands of a private pilot. For these reasons, I would ask everyone who adds a comment on this thread to not mention the CURRENT REGISTRATION NUMBER of this helicopter or mention the NAME OF THE COMPANY listed as OWNER of this helicopter in this thread. I think it is probably OK to speculate on the equipment fit of the helicopter in the photo and what its mission was but I believe it is unfair to associate this helicopter and its current owner to any form of special operations when we don't know the full story. Maybe I am being paranoid, but I think this is an important point. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this post. I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do.

LD.

Dont know if this has been posted (Hughes 369D > 369FF 11-0864D > 0085FF N4986B,N1111U,N9159A,N26RV)Then I took the last reg number and found this

HUGHES 369F

Rotorcraft

(4 seats / 1 engine) FRANKLIN AIR COMPANY

BALTIMORE, MD

Edited October 12, 2015 by scottr5213

[Floyd S. Werner, Jr.]

Dont know if this has been posted (Hughes 369D > 369FF 11-0864D > 0085FF N4986B,N1111U,N9159A,N26RV)Then I took the last reg number and found this

HUGHES 369F

Rotorcraft

(4 seats / 1 engine) FRANKLIN AIR COMPANY

BALTIMORE, MD

I fly helicopters over Baltimore literally daily and I'm pretty familiar with the helicopters in the area. I've never heard of it in the skies of Baltimore. And there is no web presence for Franklin Air Company in Baltimore and none of us have heard of it before. Just food for thought

Floyd

Edited October 12, 2015 by Floyd S. Werner, Jr.

[Loach Driver]

A google search for N26RV throws up some interesting information. The FlightAware website has some info with regard to the movements for N26RV.

One movement dating from 2002 shows the aircraft flying between Fort Eustis and Williamsburg International Airport, which is probably not too surprising.

There is another movement recorded in January 2014 which shows a flight between Lakeway Airpark, Texas and Hammond Northshore Regional Airport for an aircraft bearing the registration N26RV. That is a distance of 727 kms which was completed in 2 hrs 20 mins, that is an average speed of 168 knots (if I have calculated correctly). I think that average speed might just be beyond the capabilities of a 530F!

Perhaps the registration number N26RV has now been assigned to a fixed-wing type. If that is the case, N1111U has taken up a different N-number, if it is still on the American civilian register. A check on the Rotorspot website shows "cannot explain" noted beside the entry for N1111U/N26RV. I am not sure if Seaspray still fly the 530F. I think they may have replaced them with the Bell 407.

As always, we are left with more questions than answers.

LD.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Loach Driver