I just got back from 4 days in the field at Fort Sill, and although my feet are killing me, it was worth it seeing the University of Central Oklahoma air assault into our AO aboard CH-47Ds 064 and 085. WOW… just too friggin cool! I wish I had a camera, but I was camo’d up with a 50lb ruck on my back at the time.
After they dropped their troops off, they did a low pass over the LZ at about 50 feet. I was a happy camper for about an hour after that… and then we started night land nav…
Anyone got any data on these two birds? I specifically wrote down their tail #s in my TACSOP for all of you!
Yup, great aircraft. Fastest in the US Army inventory as well, go figure. Gotta love when the aircraft is much older than most of the pilots flying them and troopers riding in them. No real replacement for them on the horizon either. Kinda like the B-52, expected to still be in service till 2045, almost 100 years since its inception. Simply Amazing!!
I’ve recently been wondering what will replace the CH-47. I had no idea they’re going to run those things for another 40 years. Are they still building -47s or will they go thru refurbs/SLEPs?
Yep, Boeing’s building new ones now, believe it or not!
Frank,
Thanks for the info on those birds! Any idea whether they were in-country or not and who they flew with?
Gino,
I’ve had a few buddies of mine who are gun pilots tell me how they practically had to order the Hooks they were escorting to slow down, or they would outrun their escorts. Awesome bird indeed. It was amazing seeing those two birds come tearing across the LZ after they’d dropped everyone off. Literally at about 50 feet or so…
I found out the information you were looking for concerning these two aircraft, with incident reports and tracking information up to 1975. It’s lengthy, so I’ll send it to you in an email, if that’s okay… then you can display the results in here however, and if, you wish. [:)]
Seems like Hooks have been a part of the scene at Ft. Sill for a long time. IIRC, the 154th Aviation Company was in residence with early “A” models some 35 years ago. Not too surprising that Hooks are still there as Sill is The Home of The Artillery and Chinooks and cannons go together like bread and butter - or maybe vanilla ice cream and chocalate syrup .
Especially when considering the fact that some of their Fathers could have been involved in the same type exercise, in the SAME helicopters, 35 years ago!
Glad you were able to get some pictures of the event! [:)]
OoooooooooooooklaHoma where the wind come sweeping down the plain…
“hey Okeefe, u sittin on yur bayonet?” (if you’ve seen Band of Brothers, you know what I’m talking about, when Okeefe sings “right behind the rain”, or something like that)
wow cool
Just a suggestion, jinithith2, but when you want to quote someone’s post, please don’t include every single picture that they have already posted. It’s a real drag when my dial-up connection needs to download every image twice. Thanks bud.
Hey Rotor Heads, both of those aircraft belong to Det 1, G CO 149 AVN Oklahoma Army National Guard out of Lexington. I about fell out of my chair when I read those two tail numbers. I worked on those two birds over in Kuwait.
