Army-Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star

Silent, night recon aircraft. Operated Vietnam 1970-71. Night Vision, Infrared Illuminator, Laser Target Designator. 9 planes, South Vietnam, never took a round, never shot down. www.yo-3a.com

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Laser
• Infrared
• Airplane
• Vietnam
• FBI
• silent
• fbi

[ww2footage]

good stuff ... but B52s are better .-)

[Sealight007]

I believe one of our pilots was on a mission in an area where a B-52 bombing was to take place. But then that was back when it was a little tricky for a B52 to unload on target and a YO-3A could be easily in the wrong area (No GPS.) I wonder what an insurance policy cost back then for a YO pilot. I know the military provided a 10,000 death insurance ;-))) Just saw a B-52 at the Edwards Air Force Base Museum today. Older model. Didn't they fly by the stars back then? LOL

[Sealight007]

The YO-3A did pickup lots of targets with its night vision aerial periscope, infrared illuminator and laser target designator. In 14 months of operation none of the aircraft every took a round or were shot down. The YO-3A was way ahead of its time, but came to late in the war to make much of a difference. Remember by 1972 American forces were out of Vietnam and the Hippies were celebrating America's defeat along with the North Vietnamese Communist and the Soviet Union.

[mightaswellbe]

@circlem1215 I'll do that. I did not work on the aircraft. They were being built inside Hangar 1 at Moffett Field in the very early 70's when I was assigned to VP-31 which was housed in that hangar. I'll have to go through my pictures to see if I happened to have any of them there. I heard in the video that they were built in Menlo Park which is just up the road from Moffett field, so the final assembly was done in Hangar one it seems.

[circlem1215]

@mightaswellbe The History of Flight Musium Restoration center in Everett Washington is currently restoring a YO-3 Quiet star. If you worked on these aircraft I'm sure the YO-3 team would be very interested in talking with you. You can either contact me on here or give the center a call at 425-745-5150 ask for Tom, he is the manager of the center.

[bigbeartr57]

So what is the quietest now?

[mightaswellbe]

These aircraft were built/assymbled in Hangar 1 at Moffett Field California in the 1970-72 time frame. I was with VP-31 at the time and Hangar 1 was our Hangar. The Plane that is landing at 2:20 is landing at Moffett Field and you can see hangars 2 & 3 as the video fades.