The CIA's (not so secret) Air Wing
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The CIA's (not so secret) Air Wing
EXtract from an excellent and informative New York Times report on CIA flight activities............
A Varied Fleet
But records filed with the Federal Aviation Administration provide a detailed, if incomplete, portrait of the agency's aviation wing.
The fleet includes a World War II-era DC-3 and a sleek Gulfstream V executive jet, as well as workhorse Hercules transport planes and Spanish-built aircraft that can drop into tight airstrips. The flagship is the Boeing Business Jet, based on the 737 model, which Aero flies from Kinston, N.C., because the runway at Johnston County is too short for it.
Most of the shell companies that are the planes' nominal owners hold permits to land at American military bases worldwide, a clue to their global mission. Flight records show that at least 11 of the aircraft have landed at Camp Peary, the Virginia base where the C.I.A. operates its training facility, known as "the Farm." Several planes have also made regular trips to Guant¨¢namo.
But the facility that turns up most often in records of the 26 planes is little Johnston County Airport, which mainly serves private pilots and a few local corporations. At one end of the 5,500-foot runway are the modest airport offices, a flight school and fuel tanks. At the other end are the hangars and offices of Aero Contractors, down a tree-lined driveway named for Charlie Day, an airplane mechanic who earned a reputation as an engine magician working on secret operations in Laos during the Vietnam War.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know what they do," said Ray Blackmon, the airport manager, noting that Aero has its own mechanics and fuel tanks, keeping nosey outsiders away. But he called the Aero workers "good neighbors," always ready to lend a tool.
Son of Air America
Aero appears to be the direct descendant of Air America, a C.I.A.-operated air "proprietary," as agency-controlled companies are called.
...............
Just three years after the big Asian air company was closed in 1976, one of its chief pilots, Jim Rhyne, was asked to open a new air company, according to a former Aero Contractors employee whose account is supported by corporate records.
"Jim is one of the great untold stories of heroic work for the U.S. government," said Bill Leary, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Georgia who has written about the C.I.A.'s air operations. Mr. Rhyne had a prosthetic leg - he had lost one leg to enemy antiaircraft fire in Laos - that was blamed for his death in a 2001 crash while testing a friend's new plane at Johnston County Airport.
Mr. Rhyne had chosen the rural airfield in part because it was handy to Fort Bragg and many Special Forces veterans, and in part because it had no tower from which Aero's operations could be spied on, a former pilot said. "
A Varied Fleet
But records filed with the Federal Aviation Administration provide a detailed, if incomplete, portrait of the agency's aviation wing.
The fleet includes a World War II-era DC-3 and a sleek Gulfstream V executive jet, as well as workhorse Hercules transport planes and Spanish-built aircraft that can drop into tight airstrips. The flagship is the Boeing Business Jet, based on the 737 model, which Aero flies from Kinston, N.C., because the runway at Johnston County is too short for it.
Most of the shell companies that are the planes' nominal owners hold permits to land at American military bases worldwide, a clue to their global mission. Flight records show that at least 11 of the aircraft have landed at Camp Peary, the Virginia base where the C.I.A. operates its training facility, known as "the Farm." Several planes have also made regular trips to Guant¨¢namo.
But the facility that turns up most often in records of the 26 planes is little Johnston County Airport, which mainly serves private pilots and a few local corporations. At one end of the 5,500-foot runway are the modest airport offices, a flight school and fuel tanks. At the other end are the hangars and offices of Aero Contractors, down a tree-lined driveway named for Charlie Day, an airplane mechanic who earned a reputation as an engine magician working on secret operations in Laos during the Vietnam War.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know what they do," said Ray Blackmon, the airport manager, noting that Aero has its own mechanics and fuel tanks, keeping nosey outsiders away. But he called the Aero workers "good neighbors," always ready to lend a tool.
Son of Air America
Aero appears to be the direct descendant of Air America, a C.I.A.-operated air "proprietary," as agency-controlled companies are called.
...............
Just three years after the big Asian air company was closed in 1976, one of its chief pilots, Jim Rhyne, was asked to open a new air company, according to a former Aero Contractors employee whose account is supported by corporate records.
"Jim is one of the great untold stories of heroic work for the U.S. government," said Bill Leary, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Georgia who has written about the C.I.A.'s air operations. Mr. Rhyne had a prosthetic leg - he had lost one leg to enemy antiaircraft fire in Laos - that was blamed for his death in a 2001 crash while testing a friend's new plane at Johnston County Airport.
Mr. Rhyne had chosen the rural airfield in part because it was handy to Fort Bragg and many Special Forces veterans, and in part because it had no tower from which Aero's operations could be spied on, a former pilot said. "
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Nothing new really.
Additional CIA 'companies' in the more distant past have included the likes of Southern Air Transport and Intermountain Aviation...the latter having the most beautifully polished DC-6B that I personally have ever seen.
A real beauty, that would put the recently restored Red Bull aeroplane to shame...just.
Ahhh, the good 'ole days.
Additional CIA 'companies' in the more distant past have included the likes of Southern Air Transport and Intermountain Aviation...the latter having the most beautifully polished DC-6B that I personally have ever seen.
A real beauty, that would put the recently restored Red Bull aeroplane to shame...just.
Ahhh, the good 'ole days.
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I'm sure that several of us know of companies that are currently indirectly linked to CIA but let's keep in mind that there are serious security considerations involved for those operating with those companies....
Before anyone is tempted to mention any names.... think again
Before anyone is tempted to mention any names.... think again
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book
a bit of an aside, but...
this is a great book on the Forward Air Controllers and Air America in Laos if anyone is interested.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
He also wrote Air America, on which the film was based. As ever, the book's better.
this is a great book on the Forward Air Controllers and Air America in Laos if anyone is interested.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
He also wrote Air America, on which the film was based. As ever, the book's better.
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Thanks for the reference ManfredvonRichthofen. Have just ordered "The Ravens" from Amazon. Had read a bit about this "secret war" but thanks for putting me on this track (no pun intended)
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A Lonely Kind of War by Marshall Harrison fits well with the above recommendations.
You'll have to wait for the final chapters for the covert stuff but its well worth it-I think it was the inspiration for the film BAT21 with Gene Hackman.
You'll have to wait for the final chapters for the covert stuff but its well worth it-I think it was the inspiration for the film BAT21 with Gene Hackman.
In the book "Air America", many companies were described, all of which had certain connections with the US government, at least in retrospect. The author had initially heard of the smuggling of animals and stumbled onto a much larger situation, which he was slow to grasp. One Flight Attendant stated in an airline brochure that she once worked a flight during which they carried "dead bodies... better not talk about that".
Civil Air Transport and Air Asia might have started in the 40's, if not the 50's. Was 'Bird Air' started in the 50's?
Evergreen Helicopters was mentioned several times along with Intermountain Aviation, based at Marana, Arizona (the windows were still painted over in '84 when another pilot and I were on a guided tour of several airplanes). Southern Air Transport. The "Caramar" Corp. The Delaware Corp (many companies are incorporated there), and the "Doublecheck Corp". The CIA supposedly operated the largest group of aircraft in the world, more than Aeroflot. A guy who was current in four-engined planes and joined with this expectation, might be assigned to fly a Helio-courier (maybe later a Pilatus Porter, reportedly much more forgiving) as a bush pilot in Laos. At the airport in Vientiane, Laos, guys would taxi out with bags of rice to drop to (Hmong?) villagers, as some Russian pilots taxied out from another airport location for a totally different mission..."soft rice"...."hard rice". I don't know if these guys dealt with the "Ravens'. But the author seemed a bit confused about whether US Marine aviators were part of the US military. Long ago I flew with a guy who might have instructed in the Laotian AT-28, but can't recall his name. He said that while flying a DC-3, he was spit out of a thunderstorm, upside down. Another guy who was an IP over here in '79 flew as that "other guy's" DC-6 FO somewhere in southeast Asia and later the C-9 at Andrews. Forgot his name too
.
As for Air Force guys who were shot down over Laos, especially over the lethal Plain of Jars, only about 5-10% were rescued. If you were not in uniform, but dressed as a civilian, it is likely that the odds against you if captured might be much worse.
Civil Air Transport and Air Asia might have started in the 40's, if not the 50's. Was 'Bird Air' started in the 50's?
Evergreen Helicopters was mentioned several times along with Intermountain Aviation, based at Marana, Arizona (the windows were still painted over in '84 when another pilot and I were on a guided tour of several airplanes). Southern Air Transport. The "Caramar" Corp. The Delaware Corp (many companies are incorporated there), and the "Doublecheck Corp". The CIA supposedly operated the largest group of aircraft in the world, more than Aeroflot. A guy who was current in four-engined planes and joined with this expectation, might be assigned to fly a Helio-courier (maybe later a Pilatus Porter, reportedly much more forgiving) as a bush pilot in Laos. At the airport in Vientiane, Laos, guys would taxi out with bags of rice to drop to (Hmong?) villagers, as some Russian pilots taxied out from another airport location for a totally different mission..."soft rice"...."hard rice". I don't know if these guys dealt with the "Ravens'. But the author seemed a bit confused about whether US Marine aviators were part of the US military. Long ago I flew with a guy who might have instructed in the Laotian AT-28, but can't recall his name. He said that while flying a DC-3, he was spit out of a thunderstorm, upside down. Another guy who was an IP over here in '79 flew as that "other guy's" DC-6 FO somewhere in southeast Asia and later the C-9 at Andrews. Forgot his name too
.As for Air Force guys who were shot down over Laos, especially over the lethal Plain of Jars, only about 5-10% were rescued. If you were not in uniform, but dressed as a civilian, it is likely that the odds against you if captured might be much worse.
Last edited by Ignition Override; 2nd Jun 2005 at 03:21.
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Guys, you got me hooked so I googled Johnston County airport.
It appears that in 2003 the Austrian Air Force had two fighter jets intercept an Air Contractors Charlie 130 for some reason, probably not filed the correct flight plan.
I cannot remember this attracting too much press attention at the time.
It appears that in 2003 the Austrian Air Force had two fighter jets intercept an Air Contractors Charlie 130 for some reason, probably not filed the correct flight plan.
I cannot remember this attracting too much press attention at the time.
