CH-47 Chinook
ICAO H47The tandem-rotor heavy lifter, in service continuously since 1962. Live CH-47 Chinook positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Boeing
- Role
- Heavy-lift helicopter
- Class
- H2T — Helicopter, 2 turboshaft engines
- Crew
- 3 — two pilots and a flight engineer
- First flight
- 21 September 1961
- In service
- 1962
Operators airborne
About the CH-47 Chinook
The Chinook has no real competitor in the West. Two large rotors turning in opposite directions at each end of the fuselage mean it needs no tail rotor, generates enormous lift, and can load through a rear ramp at the same height as a truck bed — a combination nothing else offers.
It has been in continuous production since 1962, which makes it one of very few aircraft still being built more than sixty years after its first flight. Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Spain, Greece and others fly it alongside the US Army.
Being a helicopter, it shows up on ADS-B far less than its numbers suggest. Low-level flying puts it behind the horizon for most ground receivers, so the count here is a fraction of what is actually airborne.
Callsign prefixes
- RRR
- Ascot — Royal Air Force
- SCHNR
- A recurring US Army Chinook block
- PAT
- Priority Air Transport — US Army
How to recognise it
- —Two rotors, no tail rotor. Nothing else in Western service looks like this.
- —A long boxy fuselage with a rear ramp and sponsons running down each side.
- —On the feed: low altitude, ground speeds around 130 to 150 knots, short sorties from a fixed base.
Common questions
+ Why does the Chinook have two rotors?
A tandem arrangement cancels the torque that would otherwise spin the fuselage, so no tail rotor is needed and all the engine power goes into lift. It also gives a very wide centre-of-gravity range, which matters when loading heavy and awkward cargo.
+ How long has the Chinook been in production?
Since 1962, without a break. Very few aircraft of any kind have managed that; the current CH-47F and Britain's Chinook HC6 share little but the layout with the originals.
+ Why do I see so few Chinooks on the map?
Helicopters fly low, and ADS-B needs line of sight to a ground receiver. An aircraft at a few hundred feet is invisible to stations that would easily hear a jet at cruise altitude.