The Chinook

The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem-rotor, heavy-lift helicopter. Its primary roles are troop movement, artillery placement, and battlefield resupply. With a top speed of 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h), the helicopter was faster than contemporary 1960s utility helicopters and attack helicopters, and is still one of the fastest helicopters in the US inventory. The CH-47 is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name is from the Native American Chinook people.

The Chinook was designed and initially produced by Boeing Vertol in the early 1960s; it is now produced by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems. It is one of the few aircraft of that era - along with the fixed-wing Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft - that remain in production and frontline service, with over 1,200 built to date. The helicopter has been sold to sixteen nations with the U.S. Army and the Royal Air Force being its largest users.

There is no mistaking the familiar wokka thump from the tandem rotor Chinooks rotor blades as it flies overhead. Often a crowd pleaser and fan favourite at air shows, Rich Pittman takes a look at origins of the tandem rotor through the early production, improved versions and operational history of the CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter.