Boeing Chinook (UK variants) Boeing Chinook (UK variants) The Boeing Chinook is a large, tandem rotor helicopter operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A series of variants based on the United States Army's Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the RAF Chinook fleet is the largest outside the United States. RAF Chinooks have seen extensive service including fighting in the Falklands War, peace-keeping commitments in the Balkans, Northern Ireland and action in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Chinook aircraft, normally based at RAF Odiham, provides heavy-lift support and transport across all branches of the British armed forces, and is supported by the smaller, medium-lift helicopters
Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant Series production facilities for Mil-designed helicopters include Rostvertol in Rostov-na-Donu, the Kazan Helicopter Production Association, and the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant. Mil participates in the Euromil joint venture with Eurocopter. Mil was established in 1947 under the guidance of Mikhail Mil as the helicopter laboratory of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast. The Mil Mi-1 became the first mass-produced Soviet helicopter. The Mi-8 helicopter, designed in the early 1960s, was a successful design in both military and civil applications, with over 12,000 units being produced. Mil merged with Kamov and Rostvertol to form Russian Helicopters in 2006. The Mil