AS Chooks grounded
 

The Australian Army has grounded its CH-47D Chinook helicopters after finding possible problems with the aircraft's flight control systems.

Chinook choppers grounded after computer problem - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The news link is wrong, the Australian Army hasn't operated the Chinook since 1973. But that is hardly surprising, as the source is the ABC.

The RAAF originally acquired the CH-47C in 1973. One was lost (with an RAF exchange pilot), and the remaining 11 were sold back to the US, in the late '80s I think.

Then Army decided they needed to refuel the S-70A Blackhawks, and Chinook would be a good cab for the job. So 4 of the old C models were upgraded to CH-47D and delivered to Army in the mid '90s. Guess what? 4 were not enough - so a further 2 (newbuild) CH-47Ds were acquired, around about 2000. One of the earlier aircraft was lost this year in Afstan, and that has been replaced from the 5 AVN Regt fleet in Townsville.

I believe 2 are deployed now in Afghanistan (of which 1 must be U/S), 1 in PNG (prob U/S), and 1 in Horn Island (prob U/S transitting to/fro PNG). That leaves the remaining 1 in deep maintenance in TVL.

7 x CH-47F are on order for delivery in 2014. The moral of this story - you can't run an effective operational fleet with 5 airframes !! But I'm sure you knew that. ;)

And the fabulously accurate TV report on this grounding said

"It is a problem with the power steering"

and went on to describe an autopilot software fault. Good onya Channel 9.:ok:

The Australian Army DOES operate Chinooks. Official DoD statement:


Army has temporarily suspended flying operations for the CH-47D Chinook helicopter upon identifying possible issues relating to the operation of the aircraft’s Advanced Flight Control System (AFCS) in certain flight conditions.

Director General Aviation, Brigadier Neil Turton said the suspension was to ensure safety and is consistent with Army Operational Airworthiness procedures.

“The precautionary suspension will remain in place pending technical analysis of flight data by Defence and Boeing,” Brigadier Turton said.

The precautionary suspension includes the two CH-47D Chinook aircraft deployed to Afghanistan in support of ISAF operations. The two aircraft are based at Kandahar Air Field and perform combat and logistic support missions, and quick response tasks.

ISAF is currently well supported by both military and contracted rotary wing assets. Centralisation of aviation assets into the US Combat Aviation Brigades allows greater redundancy, synchronisation of maintenance and improved mission planning. Australia’s Rotary Wing Group is part of the US 101st Combat Aviation Brigade.

“The grounding of the aircraft is not expected to have an impact on the conduct of operations.

Military operations staff will offset the loss of capability and re-adjust schedules and support arrangements to ensure that rotary wing assets are prioritised in accordance with mission requirements,” Brigadier Turton said.

The Australian Army operates five CH-47D Chinook aircraft. Of the five aircraft, two aircraft are deployed to Afghanistan, one is deployed to Papua New Guinea; one is on Horn Island; and the remaining aircraft is in Townsville where the Chinook fleet is based.


Media contact:
Defence Media Operations 02 6127 1999

I don't think anybody said that they don't ?? :confused:

"The news link is wrong, the Australian Army hasn't operated the Chinook since 1973."

Apologies, I think I see what's happened here....:\

Australia and Chinooks and 1973
 

BBadanov

I think there might have been some confusion with your statement "the Australian Army hasn't operated the Chinook since 1973" - which could be (mis)read to mean "Australia hasn't operated Chinooks".

As for the 1973, ... Wikipedia says (at No. 12 Squadron RAAF - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) 12 Sqn reformed in 1973 with the Chinooks being delivered in 1974.

Reports other than the ABC also refer to 1973 - perhaps derived from Defence web site RAAF Museum: RAAF Aircraft Series 3 A15 Chinook which says they were accepted by Defence in October 1973. Operational no doubt came some time later.

cheers
layman

Australia were definitely operating Chinooks in the middle 80's because there was an exchange program between 7 Sqn and Oz, (I seem to recall it was the RAAF). Bob N******* was the crewman that spent 6 months down under.

AIR FORCE had them for the early days (12 SQN Amberley)...ARMY owned the -D later in century......BBad is correct in that the ARMY has not operated them the whole time!!. - But defence had some since the early '70s, followed by a break prior to Army getting theirs.

Speculation, did the investigation in to the incident in the Stan have any input into the grounding?

And came back with the broadest Oz accent I have ever heard? Or was that another bloke?:ok:

CG

Yep... He had "assimilated"... He also tried to transfer to the RAAF mainly for the following two reasons:-

1. Exercise for Chinooks meant packing all operational equipment onto the aircraft. Then pack the barbie, food and beer. Fly out into the middle of nowhere. Unload barbie, food and beer. Camp for a week. Pack what remains of barbie, food and beer and fly back to base.

2. Oz men are pigs to the women. Say hello to a Sheila and ask her her name and she doesn't need plying with booze...

Made sense to me... :D

That much? are you sure.

That was Bob's story... and he wasn't known for BS.... ;)

Just to further muddy the murky waters, wasn't one of the issues with 'Army Aviation' back in the 70's that the Army paid for and owned the helicopter support fleet, but the RAAF operated them?

I thought that the Chooks were bought from the Army budget, regardless that the RAAF drove them :hmm:

No, not so. The Iroquois were purchased by the RAAF from about 1962, with deliveries of UH-1B/D/H in batches over the next decade. Paid for and operated by RAAF. Same as Chinook, paid for and operated by RAAF. Like an observation on another thread, even though both types - and then the first Blackhawks - had "RAAF" or "AIR FORCE" painted on the sides, the media always referred to them as "army helicopters". Finally around 1989, the Blackhawks and Hueys were handed over to the Army. Then the CH-47C was retired from the RAAF.

Reminds me of the Oz version of foreplay.

'Brace yourself Shiela.'

I think that was the "thrust" of Bob's argument... :}

About 80% of the work we did in the Hueys was Army Support, so it sort of made sense to give them to the army - particularly after the grunts insisted that the aircrew had to live in tents in the field with them, instead of the motel in Rockhampton. Geez, What's the point in being an officer if you can't have a steak for dinner, washed down with a dozen beers, sleep in an air-conditioned motel and then go fly the toy to carry the smelly grunts? Who would want to smell like them?? Glad I got out while the going was good.

As an aside, we had an early incident with a Chinook, which later became a Christmas tree, when a turbine wheel blew out of the right engine, passed through the pylon and the electrics and hydraulics, and lodged in the left engine. GN had some fun with a running landing on the rubber bladders of water he was carrying (unable to pickle the load) and all were fine.

The Chinooks were taken out of RAAF service when Kim Beasley was Defence Minister.
The mighty Black Hawks had arrived, and the story told by the Minister was that they could do the job of the Chinooks, at a much better price.
The Chinooks were stored in an air-conditioned hangar at Amberley for years, until they were traded-n on the D models.