CH-47 Chinook: A Deep Dive into Its Design, History and Missions

Video from the channel Trevor Wert about Boeing CH-47 Chinook, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 18:54. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A full rundown of the CH-47 Chinook: origins, versions, technical features, missions, crew and training, comparison with other heavy-lift helicopters, and the countries that use it.

In the late 1950s the US Army needed to replace the piston-engined CH-37 Mojave, which had fallen short on power and range. The contract went to Vertol, which was already experimenting with tandem rotors. A year later Boeing bought the company, along with it the YHC-1B prototype, which would become the CH-47 and entered service in 1962 as the CH-47A. In Vietnam it recovered more than 11,500 downed aircraft. Later came the B (1966), C (1967) and D (1982) versions; the MH-47D (1988), the first special-operations variant; the MH-47E (1995); the MH-47G Block I (2004), with FLIR; the Army's 2007 modernization; and the MH-47G Block II. An MH-47 from the 160th SOAR evacuated the operators during the raid against Bin Laden.

Its rotors are 60 feet in diameter, and the aircraft measures 98 feet 10 inches tip to tip. Engine power rose from about 2,200 shaft horsepower to 4,733 on the D model. It reaches 170 knots, weighs up to 54,000 pounds at maximum, and carries up to 24,000 pounds inside or nearly 26,000 pounds slung from its three cargo hooks. It has a range of 400 nautical miles, a ceiling of more than 20,000 feet, and room for 44 seated soldiers or 24 litters. It can land on just its rear wheels and ramp, or on water. A new CH-47F costs around $32 million, and it is used by more than 20 countries besides the United States.