Chinook, One Tough Helicopter

I'm not sure if it was Bravo November, but one Chinook transported, I think, over a hundred troops in the Falklands War.
It really was standing room only and the machine was grossly overloaded but completed the mission successfully.
I haven't been able to find anything on the net relating to that incident, but there must be something somewhere.

Designed for 36 troops with gear, this is the only case I've heard of carrying over 100 people.

Thanks for that, Bruce.
Admittedly my memory is a bit hazy on the Falklands incident, but ISTR that a figure in excess of 100 was quoted.
Nobody sat down but it was so packed that no-one was in danger of falling over either.
I'll keep searching.

I was wrong... but sort of right... in a manner of speaking.

Four British Chinooks were destroyed on 25 May 1982 when the Atlantic Conveyor was struck by an Argentine Dassault Super Étendard firing an Exocet sea-skimming missile.
Surviving British Chinook, "Bravo November", did outstanding service in the Falklands, even lifting 81 troops on one occasion.

That was the incident I had in mind, even if I did get the number on board wrong.
Heaven knows what the AUW was. :eek:

Wiki Link

(See Falklands paragraph)

Something funny occurred to me while reading this thread. I've flown in the CH-47 Chinook a number of times and the CH-46 Sea Knight a few; but, I don't remember ever landing in either of them! They were all airborne operations (some static-line, some HALO).

[SIZE="1"]The only serious problem I've experienced with military helicopters was during a stateside desert training mission. An Air Force Reserve unit sent 2 Sikorsky CH-3Es in support of operations (getting their pilots' required flight hours). My A-Team had been in one doing a daytime HAHO exercise from 18,000 ft. Later that evening, another A-Team was doing a night infiltration exercise in the other CH-3E when it had a mechanical breakdown, crashed and burned killing all aboard, flight crew and A-Team. The CH-3E I had been in earlier that day participated in the latter exercise without incident; but, was immediately grounded after the other one crashed. Airborne operations ceased for a couple days of mourning, then resumed with C-130s.

Story: https://pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com/post/the-tragic-crash-of-ch3e-6505692-4496186

Aircraft: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/MuseumExhibits/FactSheets/Display/tabid/509/Article/196326/sikorsky-ch-3e.aspx[/size]

"... They were light."

Kinda sad. Glad that trip worked out
Awesome helicopter.

While looking for an overloaded Chinook in the Falklands I found a link to an online book...
Scram!: The Gripping First-hand Account of the Helicopter War in the Falklands.So I read it, all 89 pages of it. It's a compilation of the helicopter pilots, of several types, stories of what they did and saw in the war. It's fascinating and describes the preparation and the war in some detail, because rather than being stuck in one spot fighting like ground troops, the pilots were involved in every operation on land and on the ships. They saw the good moves and the "cock ups".
It's a Russian website but all my antimalware software, including Malwarebytes anti-exploit, didn't blink.

Anyway, on page 54 it says...

Back at Goose Green, Brigadier Wilson commandeered Bravo November, cramming the helicopter far above capacity with eighty-one heavily armed Paras. The Chinook set off at low level across the open terrain to land the troops at Fitzroy, following up with a further load of seventy-four Paras.

That bird is a fucking war machine!!!

Funny thing about that, we only built four Chinooks with guns. Most were the, you-gotta-get-this-shit-there-now machines. Of course there were provisions for the military to add guns for defense but not attack. They often sent attack helicopters as escorts but those guys were always whining, "slow down, we can't keep up".

The max RPM of the blades was 103 RPM, and max speed of the ship 197 MPH.

Is that our fastest helicopter, or does something got it beat?

CH-47F Chinook is the worlds fastest military helicopter.

Outstanding.

Light up the night...
Some is sparks but mostly static electrical charges jumping between particles.