skip to content
stan runge

#1820

Boeing CH-47 Chinook

🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1961· transport helicopter

🚁 helicopter 2× turboshaft ✓ still flying
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. CH-47 Chinook - RIAT 2015 (20820630144): Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK· CC BY-SA 2.0
  2. 2. Boeing Chinook (UK variants): Adrian Pingstone ( Arpingstone )· Public domain
  3. 3. CH-47B Chinook: NASA· Public domain
  4. 4. 1st Cavalry troops deploy from CH-47, Operation Masher, February 1966: NARA photo 111-CCV-377-CC33355 by SSgt Lyle V. Boggess· CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5. A U.S. Army CH-47F Chinook helicopter, with the 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment, Hawaii Army National Guard, carries infantrymen, with 1st Battalion, 114th Infantry Regiment, New Jersey Army National 120810-Z-KC506-117: Sgt. Adam Fischman· Public domain
  6. 6. A U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter, with the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, delivers two Humvees during air assault training at Campbell Army Airfield on Fort Campbell, Ky., Aug. 7 120807-A-SG577-002: Sam Shore· Public domain
  7. 7. An Australian Army CH-47 Chinook Helicopter lifts a front loader off the flight line at Special Operations Task Force Southeast's FOB Camp Ripley: Chief Petty Officer Bill Mesta· Public domain
  8. 8. Boeing-Vertol BV-347 Chinook (65-7992) (10508872726): Alan Wilson· CC BY-SA 2.0
  9. 9. Boeing-Vertol CH-47C 4-201 Imp Iran AF Issy 06.06.71 edited-2: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
  10. 10. Boeing CH-47C Chinook Italy - Army, Volandia Aviation Museum, Malpensa, Italy PP1310907460: Peter Bakema· GFDL 1.2
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Boeing CH-47 Chinook, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK· CC BY-SA 2.0

what is it?

The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is the second-heaviest-lifting Western heavy-lift helicopter, behind the Sikorsky CH-53. Its name comes from the Chinook people, who are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

How to recognise it: 2 turboshaft engines · 18.3 m main rotor

base stats

  • speed 315 km/htop speed
  • range 741 kmwithout refuelling
  • seats 55passengers
  • size 24.5 tmax take-off weight
  • built 1,200made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 65 years ago, in 1961.
  • Top speed is 2.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Rotor of 18.3 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight
1961-09-21
introduced
1962
status
still flying
number built
1,200
role
transport helicopter
origin
🇺🇸 United States
makers
Boeing, Pennsylvania, AgustaWestland, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Boeing Defense, Space & Security
engines
2× Lycoming T55-GA-714A
crew
3
passengers
55
length
30.1 m
rotor diameter
18.3 m
height
5.7 m
max take-off weight
24.5 t
top speed
315 km/h
cruise speed
291 km/h
range
741 km
ceiling
6,096 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q209613, Wikipedia: Boeing CH-47 Chinook (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

stan runge ef9524a source