AIRCRAFT BRIEF
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor heavy-lift helicopter that first flew in 1961 and entered U.S. Army service in 1962, and it remains one of the longest-serving and most widely exported military helicopters in the world. Its tandem-rotor layout eliminates the anti-torque tail rotor and provides exceptional lift, allowing it to carry troops, artillery, vehicles, and slung cargo. The CH-47F is the modernized variant, introducing a digital CAAS glass cockpit, a Digital Advanced Flight Control System (DAFCS), a stronger monolithic airframe, and uprated T55-GA-714A engines.
SPECIFICATIONS
- manufacturer
- Boeing (Boeing Vertol)
- first Flight
- 1961 (CH-47A); CH-47F 2006
- role
- Heavy-lift transport helicopter
- crew
- 3 (pilot, copilot, flight engineer) + door gunners
- engines
- 2x Honeywell T55-GA-714A turboshaft (4,733 shp each)
- max Speed
- 315 km/h (170 kts)
- range
- 740 km (400 nmi)
- ceiling
- 20,000 ft
- weight
- 22,680 kg (50,000 lb MTOW)