America's First Black Helicopter - The Vietnam War's Stealth Helicopter

[@justanotherjezebeI]

I live for these little forgotten mission docs. All the obscure military history is phenomenal and I really love how much information you try to provide with each one.

[@cyrilio]

Alidia Smoot +

[@Dozer6001]

That's a pretty messed up thing to live for, but OK.

[@Lunibruniful]

@@Dozer6001 theyre like little pockets of info that are incraesingly hard to find as time goes on. I think its worth trying to learn about them.

[@Dozer6001]

@@Lunibruniful 1st) I was kidding around because of his choice of words, "live for"... it struck me as funny. 2nd) I'm here so one can assume it interests me as well. 👍

[@probablynotsuperior5796]

@Titus Virilius you need to be a lil more educated.

[@spikef22]

If anyone was curious. The tech that went into the quiet one still exists on modified special operations Md500s most famously the MH-6 little bird currently in us with SOCOM

[@apathtrampledbydeer8446]

You can not not love those little birds, so swift and nimble, very good helicopter chase scene in Outbreak with Dustin Hoffan and Cuba Gooding. Although that one might've been a regular 500, but still very elegant and manouverable.

[@allangibson8494]

The MD-500 NOTAR was a direct decendant of this. This is also why the MD 500 has a five blade rotor to this day.

[@mikeysgametime8914]

It went farther brother i was 75th all the way ..... The stealth uh 60 usues this same tech but add the sharp edges of stealth

[@allangibson8494]

@@mikeysgametime8914 The Quiet one could hide in ground clutter from 1970's Russian radar - bit harder to hide from 2000's Pakistani Radar.

[@skoopsro7656]

@@mikeysgametime8914 not too surprising. But cool to hear anecdotes. I'm a civvie but my father was USAF. We were up in Alaska near elmendorf on a mountain trail doing fireworks and all of a sudden a blackhawk is 30ft overhead without 5 seconds warning. I almost hit the damn thing with the mortar style shells we were lighting off. I had never been so scared in my life. I know first hand what it's like to be one of those poor bastards trying desperately to escape death from above. Lucky for me the ultra quiet blackhawk wasnt trying to kill us. But man did we fishtail in our car down the dirt roads the fuxk outta there!!

[@northeastcarrot9541]

It's crazy how much is put into these missions. It makes ya wonder about the ones no one knows about

[@dugclrk]

Most of the orders are done with no paper, they also now contract out for some missions. There is no way we will ever know what the CIA has done or is doing now. You don't want to know.

[@Jdpanzone]

Meh. Most classified information is boring stuff. There's cool shit like this but it's not like all the classified stuff is as cool as this.

[@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts]

dugclrk Foooooor sure. Companies like Blackwater do a lot of sketchy work for "civilian contractors". Btw, Blackwater has changed its name like 6 times in case you don't know who I'm talking about lol.

[@Mr3344555]

So futuristic, effective and unthought of even if it was leaked no one would believe it 😉 until civilians get some components from military tech then people would believe it. Just like in the 60's. You could claim anything because no one could disprove it! That's the beauty of science and engineering my friend!

[@Mr3344555]

@@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts Blackwater(>2009) > Xe ( Academi (2011).

[@skyserf]

They should call it the Forward Aero Reconnaissance Transport. The quiet ones are usually the most potent.

[@MrRenegadeshinobi]

Lol

[@pauljohnson3340]

Well played

[@dashcroft1892]

SBDs ... silent but deadly.

[@reggiep75]

They melt the eyes or your sworn enemy and vaporise the nasal passages..... ...even with a respirator!

[@rustyjohnson7592]

So true. Good one, sir!

[@Mirandorl]

Would have been cool if you'd played some actual sound of it though. Unless you were, and it was just .. _that quiet_

[@TraditionalAnglican]

TheDroidBay - Given the measures they took to reduce the noise these things made, they probably were just that quiet.

[@LocalDeepstateAgent]

2 things there is no public recordings of the quiet one in terms of sound and closer up looks at the tech AND it is as he said in the video (maybe you missed it) so quiet, that all you hear is sounds that resembel a far away plane.

[@jameson1239]

I’m willing to bet any sound recordings the CIA have are still classified

[@soup5344]

@@jameson1239 They have no reason to do so considering the operation itself as well as the helicopter isn't classified anymore.

[@soup5344]

@@LocalDeepstateAgent When you hear an airdrop in the village next to you but its actually the CIA.

[@NorthEevee]

I gotta give the new KZbin homepage redesign one thing; If it wasn't for that infinite list of recommendations, I wouldn't have found this channel.

[@rztrzt]

This is an awesome channel.

[@taotuhao5969]

Wow, you have been missing out. You should check out the original chanel Dark 5. It has been around for years and although it doesn't have narration it is still awesome.

[@xFlared]

I don't like it. I randomly click videos because youtube has figured out my impulses. Now I got a youtube addiction and can browse infinitely. It's like mind masturbation. Time just evaporates.

[@ハーフ-r1m]

Admiral Ackbar I don’t like how the interface looks as it it seems almost zoomed in and I hate that look everything looks far too large

[@Vysair]

but they are huge, huge huge thumbnail what an eyesore

[@waynemorgan8727]

Sometime between 1972-74, I flew a couple observers to Aberdeen Proving Grounds. I don't remember why these Engineer branch Officers were going there, but while they were there, I got to see a demo of the OH-6C. It was a fairly breezy day, as I remember, but when the pilot rolled his throttle down to 85% rpm and hovered by the reviewing stands at less than 100 feet away, you could barely hear the aircraft. It was a far cry from the noise my OH-58A made. Truly impressive at the time; I was jealous as hell . . .

[@turbowolf302]

Telephone Line: *exists* CIA: It's free real estate.

[@sebasitanroberts2378]

Bruh

[@sisamusudroka3000]

Any type of communication exists CIA: *ITS FREE REAL ESTATE*

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

What)

[@turbowolf302]

@@daytonasayswhat9333 What What, in the butt.

[@xFlared]

It's not just CIA. Hacking into phone/computer cameras and microphones is very easy for even mediocre hackers. It's actually a serious issue, since many of the footage can be sold off onto the darkweb where you could be streamed and groups of people get off on your privacy. It's an actual business model and I recommend blocking laptop/computer cams with some tape or device if you have it. Disabling it in your windows won't do anything if its hacked.

[@InTheFilth]

3 vids in one week? You spoil us 🖤

[@HighSpeedNoDrag]

Amen.

[@little_black_raincloud]

Air America is a great subject for a series of videos on all Dark channels.

[@towedarray7217]

You are seriously stepping up your game man. These keep getting better. Frikking amazing stuff lately with this and the Soviet plane flyby & crash. I don't know how you get this footage but man o man. GOOD WORK. And please keep going!!!

[@dr.ofdubiouswisdom4189]

*Little known tidbit - they also used the phone lines to place prank delivery take-out orders to VC high command, just to screw with them. Reports on the cursing exchange overheard was quite intense.

[@CarMad97ci]

Dr. of Dubious Wisdom username checks out

[@mariekatherine5238]

Dr. of Dubious Wisdom Everyone gets screwed with in war. My Dad and uncle worked on the prototypes for these copters. People used to have the clerks page officers on the p.a. to go to one place or another on base, and when they arrived, nobody knew anything about it. When that prank went south, they used to have pizzas delivered by clueless recruits. A lot of times, the officers played along, took the pizzas and ate them. One day, a dozen pizzas arrived in the hangar shop, payment due, order of some officer. So that put an end to it. But there was always some sort of humor going on. You’d go crazy without it. The best one, imo, was when a guy standing night sentry shot an intruder that turned out to be a female mannequin in a dominatrix costume. I never found out how he wrote up the report.

[@rubusroo68]

takeaways in 1971? doubt it.

[@mariekatherine5238]

Tony Dinh Sorry, but you’re wrong. The base I refer to is in Lakehurst, New Jersey. In the 1960s it was known as NAEC, Naval Air Engineering Center. The base and town of Lakehurst was more heavily populated then than it is now. It is where the Hindenburg airship burst into flames while docking in 1937. And it most certainly had at least one pizza parlor, New Jersey being home to many Italian immigrants whose parents immigrated to the US in the late 1880s thru 1920 when the US became more isolationist. Pizza makers originally worked from their apartments in NYC where they first settled, and delivered food to the customers and sold it from stalls or pushcarts in the street. Pizza can be considered one of the pioneers of the take-out food industry. After WWII, many servicemen moved out of the old city neighborhoods to the suburbs in places like Long Island, Westchester Co., and New Jersey and carried on their businesses. I’m guessing you are a millennial, too young to have experienced life in the 1960s, and not particularly knowledgeable of history.

[@mariekatherine5238]

Rubus Roo Doubt no more. I refer to the Navy base in Lakehurst, New Jersey. In the 1960s it was called US Naval Air Engineering Center, and a lot of experimental work with military aircraft was conducted there. It was more heavily populated back then than now. And yes, nearly ALL pizzerias were take-out, not sit down restaurants. Italian families who settled in New York City in the early 1900s spread out to the suburbs after WWII, taking businesses with them. I don’t remember the name of the pizzeria, but I remember as a kid how novel it was to call and have pizza delivered to our house. It was a rare treat. I can only surmise they did a huge amount of business with the Naval base. You must be very young if you think there was no such thing as pizza delivery in the 1960s. So yes, I’m OLD, turning 63 next month.

[@raybates3119]

Although I was primarily an OH-58 pilot (Bell 206 bastard child), I did get some time in a couple of different variants of the OH-6 which is essentially a MD 369/500. They are great little helicopters and a whole lot of fun to fly with excellent control feedback. Like driving a race car compared to driving your dad's Buick.

[@johnthomas4920]

Great documentary however he says in it that the quiet one ends up disappearing and no one knows what happened to it however if you Google it it sends a link to KZbin snohomish County sheriffs have one of the two surviving quiet ones

[@fight2flyphoto]

Indeed it does. I have flown in it several times and have a video about it on my channel. SnoHawk 1.

[@rs__daz]

Fight to Fly Photography Just watched your onboard and fly off that is pretty quiet tbh amazing.

[@sisamusudroka3000]

@@fight2flyphotolink please

[@zhufortheimpaler4041]

also it isnt the quietest helicopter anymore. modern rotorblade and noise dampening tech is on a whole different level. for example if you have a commercial civillian ec135 in flyover you only hear the turbines and rotorblades as a slight whine if it is more or less directly above you.

[@nipponhouseplayer]

Snohomish county flys the last one remaining! A 369H with Five blades and 4 blade tail rotor! It is quiet! The exhaust is the loudest thing and at 700 feet, almost indiscrete. Hughes 500E are quiet with 4 Blade tails! Literally the same result! Quiet!

[@ottergreen8190]

I flew civilian versions of the Loach and after all the aircraft I’ve flown, the MD500 is one of my favorites. It’s like the Lamborghini of rotorcraft. Small, fast and nimble as all hell.

[@johnsherman7289]

Won't that one do a loop?

[@unhumanized]

These kind of videos always make me happy

[@mrmartin553]

Still one of the quietest helicopters in the world. Officially.

[@sam21462]

Unofficially, if you knew they would have to kill you. :o)

[@ronaldckrausejr7762]

Except the... Two of the six helicopters that were used to kill Bin Laden. So quiet that... It could sneak up behind you, barely in the air. One would feel the downward air from the helicopter before hearing it

[@janetyeoman1544]

After one crashed on a wall during the raid in Pakistan, the photos showed the tail of a stealth Blackhawk , described as a ‘previously unknown type’ thermite grenades were reportedly used to destroy the main section but I’m sure the Pakistan army has lots to study and sell.

[@GHustle4]

Ronald C Krause Jr bin laden is not dead lmao wtf

[@GHustle4]

shane they scraped that project so they say!

[@andrewigley3931]

Good to see more black helicopter representation in aviation history.

[@FalconWing1813]

This was not the last stealth helicopter, only the first

[@joeclaridy]

The Comanche would've been an adequate successor

[@sheevpalpatine80]

@@joeclaridy or the stealth black hawks sent after Osama Bin Laden.

[@OrbInDaFrame]

@@sheevpalpatine80 true

[@hatman4818]

@@sheevpalpatine80 actually, that thing apparently had awful flight characteristics, which is why only a couple prototypes were built before the project was abandoned, and why one crashed on that raid. Makes sense, it had weight issues since it was essentially just radar scattering panels bolted over the already existing airframe. That adds a lot of weight and saps flight performance. Ideally, a full on stealth transport helicopter would be developed from the ground up, so the airframe itself is radar scattering. For all we know, such a vehicle may be secretly in development from lessons learned with the stealth blackhawk prototypes.

[@henrymallett6847]

Amanda B who tf are you

[@macfacers]

Legend has it, that the Taiwanese pilots are still bickering until now.

[@carter6922]

macfacers your a dick. I thought there was a hair in my phone 😂

[@notabot855]

I tried to wipe my eye lash off my dam phone

[@PilotTed]

@@carter6922 use dark theme

[@anunentitledmotivatedmille7731]

@@PilotTed I love dark theme I came just to comment that same thing but you already said it so good for you.

[@user-ej2xz3lx2e]

@@notabot855 you have unusually long eyelashes

[@leegenix]

This is my favorite helicopter. My dad was an aircraft mechanic and he told me of the OH6 a lot. I had a summer job working at a surplus warehouse that was being refitted to a garage. I found about twenty crates that contained the engine for the OH6. I asked the boss if I could buy one and said Ok, but just needed to wait for payday. Payday comes and I'm ready to buy that crate until he said the whole lot was sold for $2,000. Guess it wasn't meant to be. (sigh)

[@rbmwiv]

I have a friend who was in Vietnam and he was MACVSOG, a group of commandos who took their orders from the CIA. He has told me about this helicopter and the mission. Glad to see a video on it. Really cool to see a video on something that he told me about at one time that was classified. I wondered how they made it quite. He was air force but they worked for the CIA. Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies Observation Group.

[@maxsmodels]

I was recently reading up on this. it is legendary in the army aviation community.

[@towedarray7217]

Where? What book or site talks about this mission? I want to read it!

[@captaintaylor8265]

@@towedarray7217 read tyler rogaways article on the drive warzone. The helo was also in west berlin during reagan's tear down this wall speech

[@brysonfrank6476]

Legend has it, it was actually right next to the microphone for the whole duration of recording.

[@rustyjohnson7592]

Nice! Lol

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

Stop with the “legend has it “ jokes. Stop it.

[@4schitzangiggles]

@@daytonasayswhat9333 legend has it the legend meme will outlive Jeffery Epstein who didn't killed himself...

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

4schitzangiggles Who cares about Jeffrey Epstein? How boring can your life be if that’s your main concern?

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

Kyster / Kylan Lol. I’ll have to use that one.

[@fleetwarrior75]

Little bird still flying strong to this day... Hughes made a helluva machine!

[@saigoneze4465]

the footage in dark docs is awesome .Very rare opportunity to see the secret side to war and the rapid advances of war tech the U.S had and its deployment in the VN conflict

[@BoilerBloodline]

My fingers can never click new Dark5 & Dark Docs videos fast enough. 2 superior channels for sure.

[@bigxxl7896]

Well done Dark Docs, youve produced an astounding number of great docs over the past couple weeks. Slowly becoming my favourite channel

[@firenicey7319]

As a person who has worked on parts for the UH-60 and has taken a ride in one I can say it’s extremely quiet. When it was on approach you didn’t hear it until it was almost up on you. When you mentioned that the conspiracy theory was that the Black Hawk was derived from the “ Quiet One “ technology I can definitely see that they took some things from what they learned. And correct me if I am wrong because I am to lazy to look it up but didn’t the Black Hawk start either production or research in late 60s early 70s?

[@xdgiih766]

As a Taiwanese military enthusiast. I never thought my country’s involvement was so influential to the vietnam war

[@903strikerunit]

Did you know that your boys were also involved in the 1991 gulf war? How bout in Afghanistan? Or the fact that your country was the only other country to operate the U2 spyplane as well.

[@xdgiih766]

kyubey, the cute little devil. I was not aware of the gulf war and Afghanistan! You learn something new every day. The squadron that flew the U-2s were called Black Cat squadron and had a extremely high casualty rate. Did you know that it was a Taiwanese F-101 that was the first jet to use the AIM-9 to shoot down another MIG jet? The Taiwanese strait was a dangerous place

[@andrewnorrie2731]

@@xdgiih766 I believe there was (Is still?) a Black Bat squadron acting as a clandestine air transport service.

[@fidel4023]

Yes. Your involvement in this specific mission was causing a massive delay. To the americans it was like sponsoring a child who ended up going into drugs and alcohol.

[@daytonasayswhat9333]

Taiwan > Mainland China

[@davecrupel2817]

One of these (civilian version) flew over my school by about 20 feet ( im at an aviation maintenance school) to land and refuel. It was pretty quiet for a helicopter.

[@AdAstraOnYafro]

I actually saw a silenced little bird helicopter near St. Louis. The chopper landed right next to the road and 4 special forces soldiers hopped off of the external seats and dispersed into the woods while the OH-6 silently (sort of) lifted back off and disappeared over the trees.I say sort of because I believe the chopper was silenced with a reverse sine wave like Bose headphones. You could “feel” the sound but really couldn’t hear it. Later we learned that the armed forces we engaged in a was engaged in a war game exercise across the entire southern half of the country that week. This was in the 1990s.

[@MrAeronca100]

I worked in Engineering Flight test for Hughes, we had the original prototype in our fleet, nobody paid much attention to it and was a was a back burner project by (1974) a major problem it had was after shut down the cowls had to be opened due to the heat soaked engine temps would climb rapidly due to all the extra sound proofing insulation, it was not that highly modified as the presenter tells us here, basic OH6 with 5 blade rotor head modified blades (Added to the 500D) 4 blade tail rotor etc, I also remember things not being so top secret around Hughes with that ship and when we hand built the first AH 64 prototype and the Mock up unit, nobody was told to keep mum, we were also working on the 500 tailrotorless ship in this time period, lots of stories but the takeaway is it was not top secret rocket science stuff for sure, a lot of engineering on the fly made it fun to work there...

[@taerkaster]

My hats off to the engineers at HTC, I specialize in Hughes 500 restoration and maintenance and the aircrafts structure is a work of art. One of my customers has a 500D with the 4 blade tail rotor and his neighbors love him for swapping out the 2 blade t/r to the 4 blade, they all noticed a major difference. From my personal experiences its much more quiet compared to the 2 blade ships I work on. I can only imagine how quiet this machine is with the exhaust suppressor. If only something can be done about the transmission and blower noise in the cabin. ;-)

[@MrAeronca100]

@@taerkaster Boy you hit the nail on the head with "Transmission noise" we had a customer pick up new ship and then in-route got a chip light on, I came in the office and told to grab a transmission fly out and change it out, it was near Blythe Ca, after changing it out I though what the heck leave the headliner sound proofing off and fly it home...YIKES I made it as far as Palm Springs before the noise was working it's way to my core, landed and put that headliner back in!

[@themonkeydoo3]

the Hughes 500 is now the md500 and has a version without a tail rotor that makes it insanely quiet

[@catman351]

Hughes 500: my favorite helo. Also called “Loach” and “Little Bird.”

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

How do you like that, old 506 is in a museum. I flew in that same bird in the MD National Guard. Loved the OH-6. We worked with the 82nd a lot and they had the OH-58A and we pitied them. We flew circles around them and loaded our birds up as they contemplated how much fuel they could carry due to weight issues. It had great survivability and was tough to pick up in the woods due to its noise. The Huey's and Snakes had that whop,whop sound where we had a light buzz sound that defused in the trees. We brought back many a branch in the skids from snooping & pooping. SCOUTS OUT!!

[@SupesMe]

This was amazing , needs to be a movie

[@sloppydog4831]

I like how they landed on that strip and didn't taxi or shutdown the engines. Just touch and go there, no time for redoing all the shutdown and start up procedures.

[@Shipwright1918]

Always suspected that there was a real-life Blue Thunder...

[@clearcreek69]

I forgot about Blue Thunder as Airwolf came to mind watching this video

[@jimf1964]

Excellent video. Really enjoyed this one. Amazing the effort that goes into secret missions sometimes. At least this one had lasting benefits and not just filed away in a drawer.

[@adamgardiner5869]

Another awesome doco...and I'm on holiday in Vietnam right now so spooky timing!

[@wirelessone2986]

Look for original American stuff from the war at flea markets etc....is there anything you can buy at the flea markets?...just curious

[@justsmallstuff4994]

Thinking of going in a few weeks any good?

[@trashcanhands19]

Your uniquely captivating channel is the only one where I weather the ads...Keep up the Excellent Work mate!!

[@sharonsharon2604]

I have released a quiet one at work today...,

[@richardputz3233]

Sharon David HHHIIIISSSSS !!! BOOOOOO!

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

@Sharon David I didn't know that women "released quiet ones", or noisy ones from that matter.

[@greenlichtie]

That's called SMELLTH

[@shivamsharma-gg3iv]

Smelth technology at its finest

[@sixwingedseraphine]

I love the mood of these videos

[@kharisjones6136]

I remember watching Apocalypse Now when the Huey's and the loaches were about to attack that village. The Huey's were on the ground making the noise only Huey's make and the loaches were on the ground sounding like bee's. They were way more quiet back then.

[@JoroJugga]

Can confirm that the new EC145 ambulance helicopters stationed close to my apartment sound exactly like these. "Like a distant jet airplane". Did not realize that they were actually new helicopters instead of airplanes, because there is also airfield 20 kilometers away from here. It is also hard to pinpoint the direction of those ec145's even when they are flying low and flaring. You kind of know it is there but is hard to decide where to look for it.

[@earlspencer7863]

While you're watching the quiet one, the loud one comes over and f*ckin kills you! - George Carlin

[@rickc2102]

Re: black helicopters at A51, when I was chilling near A51, they buzzed over me with a blackhawk. Nothing stealthy about its noise level, but the low approach kept it secret until it was right overhead.

[@rustyaxelrod]

The right aircraft for the right mission. We haven’t always been so lucky. Some of you seem to miss that this video is about a low production variant of a relatively common aircraft.

[@geronimotudor3386]

I love your videos. Great narration (voice and content) and information. Diamond in the rough. Thanks Man!!

[@rjs1jd]

I wish i could see a video with actual audio flying "the quiet one will live in my memory 4 ever thx! So much info is not unappreciated! Thx again dark docs!©

[@nobody-ly9ef]

My uncle was a helicopter pilot in the Army, Air America, CIA, and spent a career all around the globe for the CIA during the cold war.

[@KDFRxpo2]

Dark Docs: Excellent!

[@andycopland3179]

I've just found your channel and as a history nerd, I am really loving it; much to my wife's frustrations.

[@matthewbyrd398]

One of those little birds almost landed on me in the Persian Gulf. I heard it with about 30 feet to spare. Pucker factor 10!

[@AnalGravey]

Bet you didn't have to crap for a WEEK!lol

[@frostbiteproduction3972]

AIRAMERICA was one of my favourite Films as a child, brilliant film with Downey Jr & Mel Gibson.

[@drauggen486]

I lived near something called the upside airforce base (would make a great epidode) they test radar signatures of all aircrafts. We used to sneak near the base and look at the aircrafts on rotating stands. We saw the stealth helicopter that killed Bin Laden 10 years before his death. I can tell you what we haven't seen is the freaking massive missile payload it can handle. I can also tell you they have more than one drone that can go to space. I've seen multiple small drones with black tile bottoms some are triangle shaped, some look like small space shuttles. If you look at google maps and find it look south east and you'll find where they store them outside for anyone over head to see.

[@gerardcowan155]

Tell us more

[@drauggen486]

@@gerardcowan155 i can say they had a big to do in the local paper about it shutting down years ago and since 911 it was left open. It's a open secret. One part of the base is on one side of the valley and the other half on the opposite wall. It's just south of Newport New york and north of Schuyler. Follow newport rd and you'll see it on google maps. The signs on the fence state if you cross the line you will be shot without question. No one croses. The storage facility is on a open road and it's so over full they keep planes outside. U-2 plane was there last I looked along with a bunch of plane parts like a tornado and the back end of a f16. You can see it from a car since the road is open but people will come if you stay more than a minute. I'll post the location on google maps when I get home.

[@rifleshooterchannel208]

r/thathappened

[@828enigma6]

@@drauggen486 Please do.

[@scotchsoda3165]

Tower Road you can see the radars. Lindsey Road, you can see the mothballed F-15, A-10, F-35, and more. Down the road, you can see an F-16, with full load out, on a radar pylon. Doesn't look like any fencing around either facility. What a trip! I heard upstate NY had black sites for research, this is the first one I've seen.

[@SuperScottCrawford]

How do you make a helicopter quieter? Make the other ones *louder*. Ingenious.

[@frankcastle5285]

Ahh the buzzard from GTA

[@ASAINI-kb2fz]

Abby From Wii Sports I was looking for a buzzard comment bro

[@emersonherrera4939]

😅🕵

[@OhWizzer]

@@ASAINI-kb2fz same lol

[@nathanedensor3543]

Abby From Wii Sports I was looking for this comment

[@anthonypritchard2798]

the valkyrie too at the very start

[@markbowles2382]

Very cool dark, well done!

[@FlyboyHelosim]

*The Quiet One is the world's quietest helicopter.* *RAH-66 Comanche: "Am I a joke to you?"*

[@FlyboyHelosim]

@InfiniteMushroom I'm aware of that, but I wanted to make a funny meme. Plus I'm a massive fan of the Comanche and all stealth helicopters in general.

[@wslilsoldier575]

@@FlyboyHelosim Z 10 is better

[@jimcDelta]

When I was in the Navy, I was in a helicopter squadron. I get a laugh every time I hear the term "black helicopters". For a while I was in the Corrosion Control shop. Corrosion Control was responsible for maintaining the aircraft's paint. We had several kits of a special paint. We never used them, but, they were flat black in color. They could also be removed with aircraft cleaner and water. The idea behind them was that in about two hours you could have a "black helicopter" with no markings. About two hours after you were done with what you were doing, you could return that aircraft to it's normal markings, like it never happened.

[@pedrojuan8050]

Mom : decides to take away my Nintendo DS Me for the next 2 weeks : The Quiet One

[@connerteters1650]

Keep up the good work man! Your videos are like documentaries and I love it

[@jerryscanas]

"I call this baby the buzzard" random arms dealer on tbogt

[@karanbirsinghbhullar]

Oh yeah

[@fuckshitfuck69]

Real life copied the buzzard from gta 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[@TheArea51Rider]

This is one of my favorite channels, subbed and been watching for a LONG time.

[@michaelvillegas7158]

I know for a fact they can fit choppers with whisper quiet rotor blades. The trade off is expense and speed but even Sea Stallions and Blackhawks can fly over your house at night and you wouldnt hear them over your tv set and if your on the road they can fly conventional modern choppers without being louder then most car speakers. I wouldnt be surprised if the largest Chinook platforms can be made as quiet. And even without they arent that loud in urban areas when incoming because the sound is blocked by structures. See the exercises in downtown L.A. literally cant hear Apaches until they are directly above the cameramen.

[@828enigma6]

Interesting they'd put the aircraft on display for all to see like that.

[@michaelvillegas7158]

@@828enigma6 twenty year rule. What they openly disclose is twenty years behind the cutting edge.

[@dugclrk]

They also use speakers with the opposite frequencies to cancel out the sound of the rotors.

[@michaelvillegas7158]

I just know from experience having been shocked when several choppers crept up on and over my car while just driving down a residential street and listening to the radio. I dont have a ghetto blaster bass heavy pimped out system just a new Toyota's stock system and I live right next to a NAS. I didnt hear those Seahawks until they were in front of me. I also have worked in a hospital and even on just the opposite side of the building you cant hear the Halo flights until they are already on the deck. Yes they are smaller platforms but Halo flights, police choppers and private taxi types can cruise all day over the downtown area and not even raise an eyebrow over the hustle and bustle of daily life. Easily can imagine an elite operation occuring inside a big city and it not being on the news.

[@t.r.d.z.1630]

@@michaelvillegas7158 that's odd because I heard a flight forming up and leaving nas Pensacola and I was five miles away. But then again they flew 8 cobras and three chinooks over me but I heard each individual one before I could distinguish the noise

[@MrClubgibson]

These just keep getting better and better, keep on keepin on! I'm a big fan of how fast you're posting new videos!

[@mac227booms]

I can’t believe I’m just discovering this channel!

[@leefithian3704]

I remember a Hughes commercial in the eighties of a 500 hovering close by and a dog asleep in the foreground on a porch to advertise its quiet

[@ElonMuckX]

I remember that one too. Been looking for it. That dogs ears were twitching, but he never woke, hehehe

[@iraqafghanistanmarine6905]

Love black ops topics. Great job!!🙏👍

[@Scott.Farkus]

The NOTAR system is the biggest advance in making a helicopter quiet. They sound more like a very quiet airplane without the tail rotor.

[@wwclay86]

Love how the choppers were taken to a " secret base". Always a secret base..

[@rose415]

great subject as usual thx for these videos

[@combatdoc21]

Dark Docs: would like to see more Vietnam war vids especially about MAC V SOG studies & observation group.

[@mariekatherine5238]

combatmad21 I second that.

[@saigoneze4465]

third that

[@ronin_user]

My friend was at a high clearance level at Los Alamos before she died. The black helicopters are a real design. They are silent until they are directly over you. She was a Science professor at local schools in NM. As well as doing work there. She said the helicopters were utterly silent until they arrived over your head.

[@JohnDoe-vf2yo]

Fun fact: The Quiet One was also a tune written by John Entwistle on The Who's Face Dances album.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

"Air America" is still one of my all time favorite movies.

[@hendo337]

I loved it as a kid back in 1991 when we lived on Schofield Barracks, had it on a VHS and watched it all the time. I was 8.

[@prismane_]

Awesome video, never heard of this before, it'd be cool to see more videos of highly classified tech from decades ago

[@richardkautz2947]

The loach is a badass whirlybird !!! It's still a formidable aircraft today !

[@aurorajones8481]

As always great vid. Seems pretty simple to build, you know we have quiet stealth helo's now. Think of the seals and that questionable mission where we blew up our own craft a few years back. Its funny most of your vids say "this was the best and is the best XX" but these are all post classified making them the best...that we have clearance for knowing about. This old bucket is 4 decades old. Dont tell me we dont have better choppers flying secret missions now.

[@scopex2749]

The MD 520N ‘NOTAR’ has no tail rotor and is the quietest Hughes have built. Excellent video thanks! I am an ex Air Force aircraft engineer and worked extensively on ........erm.....’certain’ projects, shall we say 😉!

[@ElonMuckX]

I was driving down a highway, and a 520N was picking up gear for some work on powerlines. I was surprised how quiet it was! My dad worked for Hughes, at corporate. Every time I tell him about something strange, that I saw in the sky, he says, ummmmm, are you sure it's not a silent helicopter;)

[@angelaortiz3406]

I love this channel love the stories

[@Minong_Manitou_Mishepeshu]

Saw a Bell JetRanger out in the country near Bancroft Michigan in 1998 that was hovering at 100 ft. up about 500 ft. away from where we popped out of the woods on the old dirt road we were on. It was COMPLETELY silent. I remember it was a dull black and had these rectangle shaped boxes on the rear half of each skid. I figured it was cloaking its noise with black noise, like the noise cancelling headphones do today and those small rectangle boxes were some sort of audio set up?

[@johnnyboythepilot4098]

I've always wondered if they could implement active noise cancellation on helicopters to defeat the noise generated from the rotor blades. If this idea is plausible, I'm sure those boxes you saw on the skids were noise-cancelling speakers. Although for a more stealthy design, I figured they could hide the speakers in the fuselage, with the speaker side of the fuselage facing at an angle to the rotors, so the sound waves collide and cancel out. Although this would more than likely require a new helicopter design, instead of modifying a pre-existing one like the stealth Blackhawks, although that's only if you want to conceal the noise cancellation speakers inside the fuselage, to keep the overall helicopter stealthy to radar.

[@elonmusk_5394]

This is the quiet kid in the back of the class in helicopter form.

[@Jwillrocku2]

Except it doesn't have guns.

[@daveogarf]

Fascinating! Always wondered about rumours of stealth helicopters. Thanks, Dark5.

[@koolburn5218]

Would be nuts to see one in action, I'd like to know how quiet it really is.

[@shawnr771]

Quiet enough. Saw a Hughes 500D close up once flying. If this one was quieter then it must have been damn near silent.

[@ElonMuckX]

Quiet enough, that a sleeping dog doesn't wake up, even though the down draft is twitching the dogs ears and hair, hehehe

[@lynnwood7205]

Thank you. This explains a helicopter (probably a forerunner of the Quiet One) I saw in the middle of night in An Khe Vietnam 1970, I was looking up and something flew over me, I was not able to comprehend what it was until an artillery flare illuminated it, it had virtually no noise and resembled a Kiowa more than a Huey. The artillery flare was in response to a disturbance at the perimeter on the Green Line not the helicopter. The helicopter was most likely on to land at the Golf Course.

[@mattkaustickomments]

9:50. This is at least the second video where you’ve mispronounced “de Havilland” as “de Hal-ih-vand”.

[@richardmillhousenixon]

IKR. de Ha-vill-and. Not that hard

[@User31129]

Nobody cares

[@mattkaustickomments]

MainID I know, right. But in my case, the misspelling is by design. 😊

[@PedrosGarage]

Matt Kustom Kostumes the irony.

[@michaelkruk553]

@@User31129 Nobody cares? You must be American.

[@dennismason3740]

In the late 1990s one of these Quiet Ones flew about a hundred feet over my head in West Hollywood. Not only was it invisible (flat black) but it was nearly whisper silent. I could feel the vibrations of the rotors which I could hear when it passed directly overhead. These suckers are, indeed, real.

[@shaider1982]

The tail rotor is the same type as the later Apache👍 I wonder if the Commanche is even quieter.

[@notaveragecr6041]

The "Quiet Ones" are physical stealth. The Commanche is radar stealth.

[@Mike-tg7dj]

It's a dangerous piece of equipment when it has minigun features such as the 20mm cannon or 7.62 mm Gatlin gun. That thing sounds like a lawnmower without a muffler when it fires. It can cover every square inch of a football field.

[@magicmonkey8543]

You could call it a... *Steli-Copter* I need help...

[@thenumerousfew1205]

No that was awesome

[@urban4957]

Yeah nice joke bro

[@mrnoname9086]

😂👏👏👏 good one

[@funbirdsaditya7129]

Sir You are great I have learned lots of things about plane watching your video thanks alot sir

[@Lunibruniful]

I love missions where no bullets fly

[@sirostauffer7462]

why?

[@Lunibruniful]

@@sirostauffer7462 im a metal gear solid, splinter cell, stealth loving guy

[@Luvurenemy]

Necessity is the Mother of invention. Competition is the Father.

[@UHK-Reaper]

I worked for a company who's main customer was the "customer" there technology is amazing we might see it in 30 years.

[@getlit1979]

You're done for

[@bloodmoongrizzlythefirst6492]

Be interesting to see how they solved the biggest issue. The tips of the blades breaking the sound barrier

[@TheBignick243]

Airwolf: Am I a joke to you?

[@jacobstienecker]

Bignick hell yeah !!

[@LostAnFound]

Blue Thunder reigns supreme

[@trespire]

Some technical trivia : The body panels are 0.8mm / 0.032" Aluminum alloy 2024, can easily dent or punch a hole with say a tool box. The windows are 2.5mm plexiglass. The casing of the tiny jet engine is cast in magnesium ( combustible metal ) for weight reduction, and is bolted to the chopper by three flimsy tubular arms with three 3/8" bolts. The MD500 dry weight is about 750 Kg.