@ Nagasaki, Japan
April 2024
Spotted this license-built Hughes OH-6 overlooking a Nagasaki intersection as our tour bus passed through. The classic OH-6 sported a characteristic egg-ish aerodynamic shape. A total of 387 OH-6 were produced under license in Japan by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force), while more than 1,400 were produced by Hughes back in the U.S. (primarily for the U.S. Army). Formally named the Cayuse (in keeping with Army tradition of naming after Native American tribes), it was popularly nicknamed “Loach“, derived from Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) program under which it was procured. Out of the 1,419 Loaches built for the U.S. Army, 842 were destroyed in Vietnam. The Cayuse set 23 world records in the 1960’s, including a 2,213 mile non‑stop flight from California to Florida, a sustained altitude record of 28,218 feet, and a speed record of 172 mph.
