Author and Aviator
Links
FORECASTS: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Kaliningrad, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
The Hughes 500 competed directly with the Jet Ranger and became also one of the most successful light helicopters. The military equivalent is known as the OH6 Cayuse.
I had the opportunity to get a job with a contractor to supply air transport to a television station. Just after I received the type rating on the Hughes 500C, however, economic circumstances forced the TV company to scrap the idea.
This was, by the way, an ongoing problem in civil aviation. A company may win a contract, just to be told a year later that a competitor had outbid them. For the pilot it often meant changing the company as well.
Hughes 500 - “Das Kraftei” - the powerful egg
- Role: Light utility helicopter
- Manufacturer: Hughes Helicopters
- McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems
- MD Helicopters, Inc.
- Number built: 4700 [1]
- Developed from: OH-6 Cayuse
- Variants: MD 500 Defender
- MD Helicopters MD 600