10/31/2009. Visiting the USA on September 15, 1959, Soviet leader General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev initially declined a sightseeing excursion over Washington, D.C. by helicopter, saying that he did not like helicopters. Eventually Khrushchev took a ride in a HUS-1Z with US President Dwight Eisenhower, and he admired the helicopter and even indicated he wanted some HUS-1Zs for his own use.

The Sikorsky S-58 HUS-1Z Seahorse was the presidential transport and only seven were produced, by the time the contract with the USSR was signed in March 1960 for two HUS-1Zs (their replacement, the HSS-2Z, later VH-3A, was already under construction), and one Vertol 44C.

The two HUS-1Zs that were shipped to the USSR in December 1960, had c/n 581241 and 581242, and were registered in the USSR as CCCP-L27491 and CCCP-L27491, later reregistered to CCCP-27491 and CCCP-27492. They were used at a number of research institutes and by Mil, their fate is unknown.

The 44C Executive had been offered by Vertol to business or private owners as an executive transport with luxury interior including settees, table, desk and wash room. The pictured sole example had been used as a company demonstrator. Vertols sales department stated:

"The interior is decorated in tones of tan, with gold accents. The divan and two armchairs are upholstered in a nubbly material of rosy beige, the other seats in soft tan leather. Each seat is adjustable for comfort and can be swiveled through a 360 deg arc. The cabinet work is in limed walnut, set off with deep-pile beige carpeting. Purchasers can use the Vertol interior or design their own."

Most likely the Vertol 44C has never been used in the USSR, as it is still carrying the Vertol Aircraft Corporation titles and the US registration.