Boeing engine started in 1943 and Boeing's gas turbines were designated models 502 (T50), 520 (T60), 540, 551 and 553. Boeing built 2,461 engines before production ceased in April 1968. Many applications of the Boeing gas turbine engines were considered to be firsts, including the first turbine-powered helicopter and boat. Vertol Aircraft Corporation was acquired by Boeing in 1960, and was reorganized as Boeing's Vertol division. The twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook, produced by Vertol, took its first flight in 1961. This heavy-lift helicopter remains a work-horse vehicle to the present day. In 1964, Vertol also began production of the CH-46 Sea Knight.
Meadowcroft Chinook Meadowcroft Chinook The Meadowcroft Chinook is a two-seat mid-winged American homebuilt aircraft design first flown in 1958. The Chinook was designed for maximum stability on the ground and the air with a roomy cockpit. The wing was patterned from the Ace Baby Ace homebuilt. The aircraft is a tricycle geared side-by-side seat mid-winged aircraft with a steeply raked windscreen. Each wing is braced with two small wing struts attached to the lower fuselage. The low rudder is capped with a strut braced horizontal stabilizer in a T-tail arrangement. The main gear is sourced from a Cessna 140. The aircraft can