CH-47 Chinooks as jumpships

[micro 0]

what is the "Jesus Nut"?

nevermind... found out what it is... the nut that holds the blades on the helicopter... and there is scripture to support it (tongue in cheek anyway)...

Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[Dolph 0]

Looks like roughly the size of the Russian MI-8 (maybe a tad bit smaller). The MI-8 is a nice jumpship, readily accessible to skydivers if they take the trip to Russia. I imagine the Chinook is similar in performance.

Noisy though.

[Amazon 7]

That is probably the Columbia Helicopters. They get contracts to thin tracts of timber ( heli-logging)up in the Cascades. I would imagine they are refueling there before heading back down to theirr home base in Oregon.

[LouDiamond 1]

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from a box that kinda worked as an add-on fuselage for those birds.

It's called a CONEX(Container expendable). You see them on freight trains, cargo ships and even backs of semi's all the time. As far as I know, no one is flying them recreationaly anymore. Last time I saw one used was in the filming of the movie Swordfish.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[BlindBrick 0]

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from a box that kinda worked as an add-on fuselage for those birds.

It's called a CONEX(Container expendable). You see them on freight trains, cargo ships and even backs of semi's all the time. As far as I know, no one is flying them recreationaly anymore. Last time I saw one used was in the filming of the movie Swordfish.

Didn't SDC have one for Spring Expo year ebfore last?

-Blind

"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

[riggerrob 643]

On a related note, does anybody know if there are any Sikorsky Skycranes that might still be able to drop jumpers? I remember some older Army aviators mentioning dropping jumpers from a box that kinda worked as an add-on fuselage for those birds.

Lance

[LouDiamond 1]

Erickson Skycrane was the company used for the Swordfish movie. I can't get to their web site right now for some reason http://www.erickson-aircrane.com/ A Google brings up plenty of pics and history on this airframe.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[riggerrob 643]

Yes, I made a few freefall jumps form Canadian Army Chinooks back in 1981.
The cabin was huge and tall enough for me to stand upright furthermore the ramp was plenty wide enough to launch 4-ways, maybe even 6-ways.
Even the A models climbed plenty fast enough to 10,000'. They were rather slow on jump run. I remember diving off the ramp and holding my frog position - while straight head-down (90 degrees to the horizon) for about 5 seconds before I got enough airspeed to start tacking towards the base of our bellytive work formation.
It was weird for this old Sikorsky technician to sit with his back against the cockpit bulkhead and watch the entire fuselage twist with every rotation of the rotors. That had to be one huge case of metal fatigue in flight.
Unfortunately, the Canadian Forces hastily sold all their Chinooks - to the Dutch - in the mid-1980s. ... something to do with them coming up on an expensive overhaul.
Now that Canadian soldiers routinely borrow American and British and Dutch Chinooks in Afghanistan, the rumor is that the Canadian Armed Forces are seriously considering getting back into the Chinook business. They just don't want to buy back the same A models that they sold to the Dutch.
Apparently D models work better at the mountain elevations in Afghanistan.
Speaking of Afghanistan, I am curious about how much of a load CH-47Ds can lift off an Afghani ridgeline 10,000 or 15,000' above sea level?
Also, how high can they hover in cold, thin, Afghani air?

[LouDiamond 1]

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I am curious about how much of a load CH-47Ds can lift off an Afghani ridgeline 10,000 or 15,000' above sea level?
Also, how high can they hover in cold, thin, Afghani air?

Take a look at the photos I posted. Almost all of them were shot at no lower than 8K ASL

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[micro 0]

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I am curious about how much of a load CH-47Ds can lift off an Afghani ridgeline 10,000 or 15,000' above sea level?
Also, how high can they hover in cold, thin, Afghani air?

Take a look at the photos I posted. Almost all of them were shot at no lower than 8K ASL

nice 'stache in that first photo. doesn't make you look so youth-like.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[halopistols 0]

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I saw that the red devils jumped out fo one once... so it might be possible to obtain one

The CH47s that the Red Devils have jumped many times are RAF aircraft, not commercial. Great jump platform!

[Nenesanteago 0]

Check this guys @

http://websearcht.cs.com/cs/search?fromPage=CSroll&Tabs=Y&Brand=CSI&Type=I&Channel=&ServiceType=CServe&uType=CS2K&roll=Y&query=columbia%20helicopters&rc=1