CH-47 Boeing Chinook Helicopter

At one time the Army wanted to discontinue the Chinook, but the last I heard was that they will continue to order fewer each year until they make a decision on whether to continue using it or go to the next in line. I saw the Chinooks in Afghanistan at the early start of the war. In fact, I was told they were flying in and out of Bagram carrying support troops and machinery.
 
One time, we were assigned to guard a fire base that was being dis-mantled and during my down time, I volunteered to hook up some equipment to a CH-47. Risky business standing under it while some guy looking out a small hole in it's belly radioed the pilot how far down to come. All this while the door gunners watched for any enemy activity. I felt like a bug under a huge foot. :eek: The down wash from those props was something else, but even that paled when I hooked up under a Sikorsky CH-54 sky crane. Once they throttled that puppy up, you wanted to be well clear and have hold of something solid or it would blow you across the clearing.


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squatting dog said:
One time, we were assigned to guard a fire base that was being dis-mantled and during my down time, I volunteered to hook up some equipment to a CH-47. Risky business standing under it while some guy looking out a small hole in it's belly radioed the pilot how far down to come. All this while the door gunners watched for any enemy activity. I felt like a bug under a huge foot. :eek: The down wash from those props was something else, but even that paled when I hooked up under a Sikorsky CH-54 sky crane. Once they throttled that puppy up, you wanted to be well clear and have hold of something solid or it would blow you across the clearing.


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The Sikorsky is about the weirdest helicopter I ever saw. I wouldn't mind the Black Hawk, I guess. The Osprey is the other weird helicopter.

I flew in a few helicopters and didn't like any of them. I felt very untrusting of them. I had a close friend go down with one back in the mid '90's while on a training exercise. That was a terrible week. I think it was either 4 or 6 Marines we lost on that helicopter.
 
Yes, that Osprey is rather dangerous, and has been since
production....not sure it is worth it in terms of lives lost..injured....
 
squatting dog said:
One time, we were assigned to guard a fire base that was being dis-mantled and during my down time, I volunteered to hook up some equipment to a CH-47. Risky business standing under it while some guy looking out a small hole in it's belly radioed the pilot how far down to come. All this while the door gunners watched for any enemy activity. I felt like a bug under a huge foot. :eek: The down wash from those props was something else, but even that paled when I hooked up under a Sikorsky CH-54 sky crane. Once they throttled that puppy up, you wanted to be well clear and have hold of something solid or it would blow you across the clearing.


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Like the second photo?

 
Been There said:
The Sikorsky is about the weirdest helicopter I ever saw. I wouldn't mind the Black Hawk, I guess. The Osprey is the other weird helicopter.

I flew in a few helicopters and didn't like any of them. I felt very untrusting of them. I had a close friend go down with one back in the mid '90's while on a training exercise. That was a terrible week. I think it was either 4 or 6 Marines we lost on that helicopter.
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While working for the Sheriff's Dept. I went on a "ride-along" in the dept's 40-King Bell 500 helicopter , which is a civilian version of the Army's OH-6A Cayuse/Loach. It was a blast, 40-King responds to patrol unit's requests for air back up, we were all over the place, one moment we were over the east end of San Bernardino Valley, backing some deputies on the ground in some matter, then a couple minutes latter we would be south of Ontario International Airport, monitoring a foot pursuit.
If the Bell 500 / OH-6A were to crash, it was designed to roll like an egg after the rotors and landing gear tore off, so said a guy in my unit, in Vietnam.
 
Ever wonder how the CH-47 got its designation? It has the same exact cargo hold dimensions as the legendary WWII C-47 Skytrain/Dakota. Army must have 'figgered if it works, don't mess with it.

Funny story from Gallant Eagle '80 exercise in Death Valley. We, as dogface enlisted, were uploaded into the shit hook with one of the Col. commanders and his XO on the lift. He leaned over to his XO and said, "Here we are RA surrounded by all these Reservists." Pilot of the CH-47 turned and replied over his shoulder, "Sir, we're Washington State Army National Guard - at your service."

So, there we were, all three compo's of the military - active, reserve and national guard all on the same lift.
 
I've flown in many, many types of helicopters as well as directed their operations on forest fires, including Chinooks and Sky Cranes. Many times we flew into remote areas to do our forestry work.

The most common types were Bell 206, Bell 208, Bell 212, Hughes 500 aka Loach, and Aerospatiale Lama's and Allouettes specifically for high altitude.

Thought for a time about enlisting in the Army w the intention of becoming a helicopter pilot, even visited a recruiter a few times before ultimately deciding not to.
 
There was another Osprey crash in Japan on November 29th that probably killed 8 people. As of when I saw the news only one body had been found. I think this is the fourth deadly crash of that model plane since last year. Perhaps they should ground them all until they can determine why these aircraft are going down and thorough checks can be done on all of them. One crash was a night, so that may have been a factor but the latest one was on a clear day when visibility was good.
US Air Force Osprey crashes off Japan during training, killing at least one of the eight on board
 
My daughter was a helicopter mechanic when she was in the military, and now works as a contractor for the virtual training that pilots go through learning to operate the Chinooks. She is now working in the Netherlands, because they get their Chinooks from the United States and she works with the simulators.

Here is what she sent us for a Christmas card.

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