Are "civilian Chinooks" existing ?

[Benni]

This morning, while going to the car at 8:30, my attention was raised to an unusual sound from above,

a deep thump-thump I never heard over Frankfurt, shortly after followed by a twin-rotor helicopter going straight over the city.

I thought "Those americans again showing off" but the underside was silver, and what I could see from the sides looked blue-ish.

Are there any other twin-rotor copters than Chinooks and is one operated by german authorities or used privately / commercially ?

[dr_gn]

There are civilian versions of the Chinook, plus some old military versions were auctioned off. British Airways had some, for ferrying oil workers to and from offshore rigs. So there have been a few civilian operators. I guess the same would apply to the CH46 in the past. Not sure if any are German though.

[ninja-lewis]

This one is close to your description:



Unlikely to have been in Germany though.

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18093/us-uses...

Edited by ninja-lewis on Tuesday 13th February 23:09

[Eric Mc]

There were indeed civilian versions of the CH46 - the Vertol 107, which famously was used by New York Airways to fly from JFK Airport to the Pan Am building in Manhattan.

[GliderRider]

Columbia Helicopters operate the Boeing Vertol 234, the civilian version of the Chinook. They also have some ex US Army Chinooks, but these cannot be used for carrying passengers.

This Italian Chinook fits the colour scheme described. Maybe it went visiting? :

Edited by GliderRider on Tuesday 13th February 23:27

[dudleybloke]

Used for logging.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LPDITlcrs6Q

And firefighting.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm18hjg6m4o

[AlexIT]

GliderRider said:

Columbia Helicopters operate the Boeing Vertol 234, the civilian version of the Chinook. They also have some ex US Army Chinooks, but these cannot be used for carrying passengers.

This Italian Chinook fits the colour scheme described. Maybe it went visiting? :

Edited by GliderRider on Tuesday 13th February 23:27

Negative, it sits in a museum near Malpensa airport.

[matchmaker]

Chinooks have not been used for carrying passengers in the UK for a very long time, partly due to this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_British_Interna...

Wikidepia said:

On 6 November 1986, a Boeing 234LR Chinook helicopter returning workers from the Brent oilfield crashed on approach to land at Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Islands. At 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from the runway the helicopter had a catastrophic forward transmission failure which de-synchronised the tandem rotors, causing the blades to collide. The helicopter crashed into the sea and sank. 43 passengers and two crew members were killed in the crash; one passenger and one crew member survived.

[Benni]

Thank you for the info so far, I was working out of office.

Maybe it was a US helicopter, are the military ones silver/grey on the underside ?

I am just corious because I had never seen/heard one directly over the city

and do not have apps like Flightradar where flight paths are shown.

[Eric Mc]

Benni said:

Maybe it was a US helicopter, are the military ones silver/grey on the underside ?

Not usually.

[bloomen]

GliderRider said:

Edited by GliderRider on Tuesday 13th February 23:27

Esercito = Army in Italian.

[vetrof]

Seems like a good time to post this old chestnut.

[ecsrobin]

V22-Osprey or AW609 perhaps?

[Simpo Two]

vetrof said:

Seems like a good time to post this old chestnut.

Whilst finding out what was going on there I found this rather intereresting page: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/03/monstrous-...

[Dog Star]

Simpo Two said:

Whilst finding out what was going on there I found this rather intereresting page: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/03/monstrous-...

Some good stuff on there - the Russian stuff is all particularly mental.



And as for this rotor hub