23 Facts About CH-47 Chinook

Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol.

The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters.

CH-47 Chinook was originally designed by Vertol, which had begun work in 1957 on a new tandem-rotor helicopter, designated as the Vertol Model 107 or V-107.

CH-47 Chinook possesses several means of loading various cargoes, including multiple doors across the fuselage, a wide loading ramp located at the rear of the fuselage and a total of three external ventral cargo hooks to carry underslung loads.

CH-47 Chinook is powered by two Lycoming T55 turboshaft engines, mounted on each side of the helicopter's rear pylon and connected to the rotors by drive shafts.

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The "sizing" of the CH-47 Chinook was directly related to the growth of the Huey and the Army's tacticians' insistence that initial air assaults be built around the squad.

The CH-47 Chinook has been licensed to be built by companies outside the United States, such as Agusta in Italy and Kawasaki in Japan.

The early CH-47 Chinook design was limited by its rotor system which did not permit full use of the installed power, and users were anxious for an improved version which would upgrade this system.

The CH-47 Chinook soon proved to be such an invaluable aircraft for artillery movement and heavy logistics that it was seldom used as an assault troop carrier.

Some CH-47 Chinook fleet was used for casualty evacuation, and due to the very heavy demand for the helicopters, they were usually overburdened with wounded.

CH-47 Chinook helicopters were used in efforts by the Imperial Iranian loyalist forces to resist the 1979 Iranian revolution.

CH-47 Chinook was used both by Argentina and the United Kingdom during the Falklands War in 1982.

The CH-47 Chinook is being used in air assault missions, inserting troops into fire bases, and later bringing food, water, and ammunition.

The CH-47 Chinook was reportedly shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade by the Taliban while attempting to assist a group of US Army Rangers.

The previous biggest single-day loss for American forces in Afghanistan involved a CH-47 Chinook that was shot down near Kabul in Kunar Province in June 2005 with all aboard killed, including a 16-member US Special Operations team.

Since the type's inception, the CH-47 Chinook has carried out various secondary missions, including medical evacuation, disaster relief, search and rescue, aircraft recovery, fire fighting, and heavy construction assistance.

Some CH-47 Chinook "bombers" were equipped to drop tear gas or napalm from the rear cargo ramp onto Viet Cong bunkers.

The CH-47 Chinook proved especially valuable in "Pipe Smoke" aircraft recovery missions.

The Future Vertical Lift program plans to begin replacing the Army's rotorcraft fleet in the mid-2030s, initially focusing on medium-lift helicopters, thus the CH-47 Chinook is planned to be in service beyond 2060, over 100 years after first entering service.

German government announced in June 2022 that Boeing's CH-47F Chinook was selected as the winner of its heavy helicopter program to replace its Sikorsky CH-53G Sea Stallion fleet.

The final MH-47G CH-47 Chinook was delivered to the US Army Special Operations Command on 10 February 2011.

The CH-47J model Chinook made its first flight in January 1986, and it was sent to Kawasaki in April.

On 9 November 2006, the HH-47, a new variant of the CH-47 Chinook based on the MH-47G, was selected by the US Air Force as the winner of the Combat Search and Rescue competition.