Inside A Chinook

The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its primary roles are troop movement, artillery emplacement and battlefield resupply. It has a wide loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage and three external-cargo hooks. With a top speed of 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h) the helicopter is faster than contemporary utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s. 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 front-line service, with over 1,179 built to date. The helicopter has been sold to 16 nations with the U.S. Army and the Royal Air Force its largest users.