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| Boeing CH-47A Model Chinook Helicopters |
| In service to the United States Army |
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| A CH-47A Chinook helicopter, from the U.S. Army's 228th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion (ASHB) - "Winged Warriors", lifts a load of ammunition for 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) troops at An Khe, South Vietnam, on 11 April 1966. |
| A total of 355 A model Chinook airframes were produced. Included were tail numbers 59-04982 (Build number B-001) through 66-19097 (Build number B-355). Two airframes never flew - B-001 and B-006. Both were utilized as ground test devices. It was never intended that B-006 should fly, as such it did not receive a tail number. |
| Those A models that returned from service in Southeast Asia, as well as others located in various units around the United States, and that were airworthy, were converted to D model helicopters. Those not airworthy were scraped. Four Chinooks became museum exhibits. |
| As of October 2004, there were five surviving A models. 59-04986 was at Fort Eustis, Virgina, utilized as a structural repair training device. Later, 59-04986 was transferred to a private individual. 60-03451 was in the Army Aviation Museum, located at Fort Rucker, Alabama. 64-13149, also known as "Easy Money", was the sole surviving "Guns-A-Go-Go" Armed/Attack Chinook helicopter (ACH-47A), located at Redstone Arsenal, near Hunstville, Alabama. 61-02408 was located near San Luis Obispo, in the Army National Guard Aviation Museum, Camp San Luis, close to Stockton, California, for many years. Later, 61-02408 was moved to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and now rests there as part of a museum exhibit. Additionally, although technically no longer an A model, 65-07992 survived as the only BV-347 experimental Chinook and was in the Army Aviation Museum collection, located at Fort Rucker. |
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| An unknown A model Chinook helicopter in the Bone Yard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, circa 1983. A sign posted near the area indicated that the airframes in this area were undergoing long term exposure to the environment to evaluate its effect on the aircraft. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger image. |
| Read a brief summary of the disposition of the A model Chinook helicopter - Click-N-Go Here. |
| Below: Click-N-Go on an underlined tail number to read more about a specific Chinook. |
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| A CH-47A Chinook, tail number unknown, was rediscovered at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon, in Vietnam during 1996. There were signs indicating that the aircraft had been made into living quarters as it was lined with plywood on the inside. In November 1972, as United States forces were withdrawing from the conflict, this Chinook was transferred to the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF). It was later captured by the North Vietnamese at the close of the war. Boeing experts paid a visit to evaluate this airframe, along with 66-19082, for possible inclusion into a rebuild program. Unfortunately the aircraft was a total loss. |
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