All top secret crypto stuff ..

I initially put Lockheed SP2-E, which I also flew. But this was in the RU-8D.

It's on the website of the Combat Air Museum in Topeka, KS, which has one of these planes in their collection. Two photos of the plane are included.

https://www.combatairmuseum.org/aircraft/beechbonanza.html

"This aircraft flew electronic intelligence (ELINT) gathering missions in the skies over South Vietnam and Laos with the US Army 138th Aviation Company/224th Aviation Battalion from the summer of 1966 until 1972. This plane was one of eight RU-8Ds flown by the 138th out of Da Nang, South Vietnam. The mission of the 138th was to provide support to the US Marine Corps in the form of ELINT gathering, intercepting enemy radio transmissions to locate their troop concentrations and movements and locating enemy transmitters. That is why the aircraft is covered with antennas. The planes and pilots were called “spooks,” Vietnam slang for intelligence types."

Thank you for your service, Bo Zarts!

Now, imagine flying night missions in that little thing over the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos and Cambodia. We called it the "Whisper Jet" because the RU-8D was so loud.

The mortality rate was so high.

Maybe you can answer a question for me.
Send me a pm if it is secret squirrel stuff.

My Dad was career USAF and we were stationed overseas during the VN war.
One of our neighbors was a young captain and he and his wife had two
young children, I used to babysit for them all the time.

This captain was in a reconnaissance squadron.

I don't know what kind of aircraft he flew.
But I would ask him what he was going to do when he left for TDY and he aways
told me he was dropping weather balloons on a nearby island.

I knew it did not take a week to two weeks to drop weather balloons so close to home, I always
wondered what he was doing.

I have recently learned that a stop secret project during the VN war was the use of drones.
Could he have been dropping drones?

Did you know anything about this project?

Your photo brought tears to my eyes. My sweetheart was there.

Last edited Fri Oct 24, 2025, 08:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Actually, I had a Pentax Spotmatic-II snatched from me by "cowboys" on a motorcycle in Nha Trang.

Iconic pic.

Is your name an Americanized/Anglicized spelling of Beaux Arts?

a great shot! and quite historical too

I can remember those days of early 1970, I was actively protesting the Vietnam War. In fact my college went on Moritorium in the spring of 1970 because of the war protests. So I hope you understand that the college protests of that time were happening because we feared for our friends, brothers, cousins, neighbors, classmates etc. who were going to fight in that awful war.

Our anger and our protests were never, ever about the guys who were doing the fighting and making the sacrifices. It was always about the illegal and unfair, undemocratic actions of the US government in creating and protracting that conflict. Make no mistake, it was Dems as well as Repukes so I'm not playing politics here. I'll never forgive Nixon or LBJ for Vietnam. I knew guys who went there, and most of them came back. A few didn't. But everyone was changed by that awful war.

Thank you ....

I got my draft notice in 1968. Since I already had a Commercial Pilot license, I successfully enlisted to go to flight school. So I was a draftee at heart, and an enlistee in fact. I figured that since I was always better at flying airplanes than hiking, I'd better maximize my chances in Vietnam. I didn't have the resources to claim something like bone spurs!

The VVAW is still an active organization today, and I am still a member. Looks like we might have our work cut out for us .. again.

Thank you for protesting that mad, bad war. It was heartening to know that back home there was some glimmer of truth getting out!