All Hail The Chinook

It’s got to be one of the most unusual looking aircraft currently flying. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook appears awkward and even clumsy but make no mistake, like a wallowing hippo, once under steam the twin rotor Chinook makes pace at a rate of knots with power aplenty.

Named after the Chinook winds, two types of prevailing warm, westerly winds in North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, this iconic transport helicopter entered service with the US Army back in 1962.

Capable of transporting up to 55 troops, 24 stretchers or 10.5 tonnes of cargo or vehicles, the Chinook has seen active operations in many theaters around the globe. Akin to the Hercules C-130, the Chinook can go one better by not even requiring a dirt strip for landing and take-off. Powering the versatile aircraft are 2 x Lycoming T55-GA-714A turboshaft engines each producing 4,733 shp. With rotor diameter of 60 feet, the Chinook can reach speeds of 200 mph and happily cruse at 180 mph giving a range of 460 nautical miles.

Spoiled for choice, visitors to this week’s Farnborough Airshow can feast their eyes on not one but two Chinook’s. An RAF (JAC) Chinook (Joint Aviation Command) is due along with a US Army variant. The RAF received it’s first Chinook in 1980 and has continuously operated the aircraft building to a current fleet of 61 which will be reduced to 50 examples going forward.

For those who like their choppers large and loud, the Chinook is one of the favourites. Farnborough offers the rare opportunity to get up close with this classic and survey all it’s uniqueness. Cleared for take-off, Zero One, Four Foxtrot Alpha…………

Image by RAF