[Porkchop]

Whenever I see a Hughes 500 I always think of their ancestors - the OH-6 Cayuse. The pilot would sit in the right side of the aircraft and an observer/gunner would sit behind him with an M-60 machine gun. They would serve as scouts and troll for enemy fire at treetop level as bait for the gunships.


(painting by Joe Kline)

I flew with a couple of Scout pilots way back when (post-Vietnam). To a man they were expert aviators and just a little nuts. They usually preferred the OH-6 to the OH-58 Kiowa.

A tip of the Stetson to those modern-day heroes carrying aid and rescuing people.

🐷

[xone]

A great helo. The best mod was the NOTAR (no tail rotor), got to fly one and a lot of peace of mind when going into confined areas.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Treetop fliers.

In case you didn’t know how good a guitar player Stephen Stills is, give this a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1ZSfabk6K8

[OldWarBaby]

I knew one of those door gunners back in the day. He used to chuckle about how his “chicken plate” sometimes got in his way. “Nuts” is being especially kind to those guys.