Boeing CH-47 Chinook Boeing CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engined, tandem rotor, heavy-lift helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol (later known as Boeing Rotorcraft Systems). The CH-47 is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinook people of modern-day Washington state. The Chinook was originally designed by Vertol, which had begun work in 1957 on a new tandem-rotor helicopter, designated as the Vertol Model 107 or V-107. Around the same time, the United States Department of the Army announced its intention to replace the piston engine-powered
Boeing Chinook (UK variants) such as the AgustaWestland Merlin HC.3 of the Royal Navy's Commando Helicopter Force and the RAF's Westland Puma HC.2, based at RNAS Yeovilton and RAF Benson. The RAF has a total of 60 active Chinooks in inventory as of 2015. In 2018 the UK issued a request to the United States to purchase 16 additional aircraft. The Chinook is expected to remain in RAF service until the 2040s. In March 1967 an order was placed for fifteen Chinook HC Mk1s, standing for "Helicopter, Cargo Mark 1", for the Royal Air Force to replace the Bristol Belvedere. This original MK1 variant