AIR AMERICA: HELIO H-500 TWIN COURIERS by Dr. Joe F. Leeker Twin Courier N8745R msn 2 to become VT-DVC, taken at Sharjah on 16 March 1966 (with kind permission from the photographer, John Phillips) First published on 15 August 2003, last updated on 15 March 2021 The strangest aircraft said to have been flown by Air America seems to be a Helio H-500 Twin Courier, which is mentioned by Robbins, Air America.1 But official Air America records preserved at the Air America Archives do not mention such an aircraft. However, some Air America pilots also flew the Twin Courier, when engaged in CIA operations that were not part of Air America operations, and this may explain the idea that Air America was said to also have operated the Helio H-500 Twin Courier. Helio Publicity of 1959 for the H-500 Twin Courier2 1 Robbins, Air America, p. 106. 2 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP61-00763A000200100086-8.pdf . 1 Indeed, from the very beginning, the Helio H-500 Twin Courier was developed according to the ideas of the CIA. On 5 March 1959, Col. William Burke, Acting Chief of the CIA’s Air Branch or DPD (Development Projects Division), said: “If the requirement is valid, the twin engine Helio is a good choice.”3 On 30 June 1959, the CIA’s Air Branch stated that “confirming our conversation of 29 June, I recommend that the proposal by HELIO for a Pantobase gear for the twin Helio be accepted.”4 On 23 September 59, the DPD’s Director of Operations was asked to comment the communications and navigation radios proposed for the Helio 500: “It is desired that the Operations Branch indicate by endorsement to this memorandum whether or not the proposed radio equipment is adequate to fulfill the mission requirements of the Helio 500. It is further requested that the frequencies to be set in the secondary VHF communications system be selected in accordance with the mission requirements.”5 On 15 October 59, Col. Stanley W. Beerli, Chief of DPD’s Operations Branch, indicated to the Chief, Development Branch, DPD the VHF military frequencies to “be installed in the set for use by Eglin Detachment” plus some others for Military Emergency and Ground Control.6 On 10 December 1959, DPD memo no. 8446-59 stated that “it is necessary to have an Air Force flight test evaluation at an early stage of the airframe development program” asking the Directorate of Plans to “make the necessary arrangements for an Air Force Pilot-Engineer team to perform a limited Category I test evaluation. The program will be conducted at the Helio Aircraft Corporation plant in Norwood, Massachusetts. It is anticipated that this evaluation will be started in late February, 1961. The flight test program will be a limited quantitative performance and qualitative stability and control investigation.”7 On 15 March 1960, a CIA Staff Meeting announced that “a delay in rolling out the twin-engine Helio was experienced in order to give priority to the readying of the […]. The twin-engine aircraft is now expected to roll out 28 March and after one week of ground tests begin its air tests.”8 On 13 June 1961, the CIA’s DPD asked for a modification of the “twin engine airplane engine cowling.”9 Reportedly, in 1960/1, the USAF evaluated 2 U-5A Twin Couriers, 59-5955 and 59-5956, at Hurlburt Field, FL, which was part of the Eglin AFB complex as “Eglin Auxiliary Field No. 9”,10 for use by the air commandos,11 but msn 2 was only built in February 1962,12 and on photos, the prototype of the Helio Twin Courier does have USAF Insignia, but no serial number at all.13 As it seems, the tests were not satisfactory. In a memo sent on 13 October 1961 to the Chief, Development Branch of CIA’s DPD, we read: “At Edwards AFB […], in addition to Project IDEALIST, discussions on the Helio Twin flying qualities and possible alternate aircraft were held at the Main Base. Some write-ups were brought back for analysis and comparison. The failure of Helio thus far to produce a safe two-engine aircraft with performance to meet our requirements warrants careful review to determine the propriety of continuing our support.”14 On 6-9 December 1961, the CIA’s Air Support Branch visited the Helio Aircraft Corporation in Massachusetts 3 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP61-00763A000100060201-5.pdf . 4 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP61-00763A000200020202-7.pdf . 5 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP61-00763A000200080107-7.pdf . 6 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP61-00763A000200100096-7.pdf . 7 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP61-00763A000200150160-0.pdf . 8 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP63-00313A000600050016-4.pdf . 9 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81B00961R000100050092-0.pdf 10 See https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/in-depth-overview/hurlburt-field . 11 Andrade, US military aircraft designations, p.172. 12 The msn plate reads “built 2/7/62” (e-mail dated 8 December 2017, kindly sent to the author by John Phillips). 13 See the USAF photos at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_Twin_Courier#/media/File:Helio_U- 5A_Twin_Courier.jpg and at https://doc8643.com/aircraft/TCOU . 14 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP67B00511R000100110084-7 , second document, no.5. 2 and learned that the FAA had checked the cockpit visibility of the Twin Courier as “OK” and that “HAC’s new target for delivery of the No.1 Twin is 20 December 1961.”15 So the 2 USAF serials known for Helio U-5As (59-5955 and 59-5956) plus the 3 USAF serials known for Helio U-5Bs (63-8072, 53-8073, and 63-8074)16 were probably only allocations that were never taken up, as it is known that all 7 Twin Couriers built immediately received a civil registration number and immediately went to the CIA. The old website of the Helio Aircraft Company (formerly at http://www.helioaircraft.com/aboutus_history.htm ) stated about the Twin Courier: “Only seven of these aircraft were built and all were delivered to the CIA.” As to their field of operations, it has been said that these aircraft were to be used in Indochina,17 however, no use of these aircraft in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia is known, where the Agency used the aircraft of Air America. Five areas of operations are known for the Twin Courier: Nepal, Bolivia, Peru, training in the US, and finally India. a) Nepal: Air Ventures H-500 taken at Beirut in August 1966 by Guido E. Bühlmann (used here with kind permission from G. Bühlmann) In August 64, Air Ventures Inc. of Washington, DC, the CIA’s proprietary based in Nepal, received Helio H-500 N10034 (msn 4). A photo of Twin Courier N10034 was taken at Beirut, Lebanon, in August 1966 by Guido E. Bühlmann. Since some Air America helicopter pilots like Elmer Munsell flew with Air Ventures at that time, this may have created the idea that Twin Helio N10034 also belonged to Air America. Air Ventures “was established to provide air support for agency-financed and -directed tribesmen who were operating in Chinese-controlled Tibet. […]. As the Tibetan operations were cut back and eventually halted during the 1960s, this airline was reduced in size to a few planes, helicopters, and a supply of spare parts. Still, up to the late 1960s, it flew charters for the Nepalese government and private organizations in the area.”18 “An AID contract was awarded to […] Air Ventures, Inc., between 1963 and 1967, ostensibly to assist a tele-communications project within the country.”19 15 See https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP33-02415A000400380019-5 . 16 See http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1963.html . 17 See https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Braas/8941.htm . 18 Victor Marchetti / John D. Marks, The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence, New York (Alfred A. Knopf) 1974, p.146, extract located in UTD/Hickler/B1F7. 19 Robbins, Air America, pp.97/8. 3 b) Bolivia: In the summer of 1965, Air America pilot William Andresevic, who had flown the regular Helio extensively in Laos, was ordered to fly a Helio Twin Courier to Bolivia for evaluation by the US Embassy.20 “That was in the summer of 1965, not 1964. After some operational use in Bolivia, I returned it to an airstrip in Virginia.”21 This operational use may have been an aftermath of the coup organized by the CIA against Bolivia’s President Paz Estenssoro in November 64. When, in April 1952, Victor Paz Estenssoro became president of Bolivia by a revolution of the anticapitalist Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, he nationalized the tin mines and declared the labor unions supporters of the new régime; especially the almighty Central Obrero Boliviano labor union was the right arm of the government. These reforms, however, resulted in an economic decline, as did agrarian reforms introduced at a later date. Cuban influence became stronger than ever, and in 1961, a Communist revolution supported by Fidel Castro was crushed. The situation became even more intolerable, when Bolivia left the Organization of American States in 1962, and when, in May 1964, Paz Estenssoro eliminated the political opposition. All arms and ammunition were controlled not by the official Bolivian Army, but by relatives and reliable friends of the president, who commanded the civilian militia as an elite palace guard and in this way controlled the whole state.