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.
Chinook Point was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Chinook Point is a hilly promontory on the north bank of the Columbia River, roughly east of its actual mouth, which is marked on the north by Cape Disappointment and the south by Point Adams. The point is fortified with the remains of Fort Columbia, which include thirteen buildings erected in 1902, and three artillery emplacements installed between 1897 and 1900. The mouth of the Columbia River, the major river of the northwestern United States, was almost discovered several times before Captain Robert Gray spotted it in 1792. Spanish explorer Bruno de