US Army To Update Chinook Fleet
 

Contract awarded for BlockII updates to CH-47 F Models.....ultimately approximately 500 Aircraft are to be upgraded by Boeing-Vertol for the US Army.

https://www.rotorandwing.com/2019/01/13/u-s-army-ready-award-first-ch-47-block-ii-contract-boeing/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkdKallqaGpOVE0wTkRJdyIsInQiOiI2OGE2cGF3UHh 6XC9ibnlZa0lQM0I5eVhZOTBrZUxxd0xpQ2ZYRXAzN1dTc3pmbmRrR25iTFN 5VU5KNDJLSGFtNDdyc0diWTVQV0VmVVwvcnQ2d0ZzOTU1d2xSd0pSWm1TbTZ vMWFuRWhCc3h2ZTNJeHp2M25HbzdjWUZXaHRybEUwIn0%3D&fbclid=IwAR0 VKGfeIfAokoJVxRWyXfyUzbUFAh67CH7MqZWpOJ7OJUoMrAY-BYonqnw


Spain is doing likewise.


https://www.rotorandwing.com/2019/01...UoMrAY-BYonqnw

Spain is upgrading its Ds to Fs, rather than the Block 2.

Long live the conceptual creations of Frank Piasecki!

This program appears as though it will extend the reign of his tandem rotor beasties to near or perhaps even beyond the 100 years mark. Piasecki's early contributions in the area of compound helicopter design were also significant. The resurgent compounds now seem to be competing with tilt-rotors for next generation VTOL supremacy. But even as VTOL technology marches ever onward, the venerable Chinook marches with it and remains a versatile workhorse that can't cost-effectively be replaced.

Do crew chiefs still carry a 55 gallon drum of 5606 in back?

Cuz one told me if there's no puddle under the bird, ya better re-check hyd fluid level! (like a pre-84 Harley!)

That fluid has been replaced by 83282, about 30 years ago. Only you can prevent in flight fires.

We were still using MIL-H-5606E or F (more fire resistant than 5606A,B,C, or D I presume) in 1989 in US Army UH-60As, so the switch in Army birds might have come along a little bit later. GW1 maybe?

In any event, It never appeared to me that Chinook and Huey crews were as concerned about hydraulic seeps as we were in the Blackhawks. (if the puddles commonly noted under their parked aircraft were any indication)

In the civilian bizjet world, (where battle damage is of somewhat less concern) MIL-PRF-5606G is still commonly used on many types.

Pressurized hydraulic fluid and open flame do have a destructive history together. Many improvements to hydraulic fluids have been made over the years, but no hydraulic fluid will ever be ideal. That's just one of the justifications for moving away from centralized hydraulic systems in later generation combat aircraft. Replacement of hydraulics with electric actuation is the future trend in combat aircraft. Fighters first, helicopters and other tactical aircraft to follow.

I'm glad you were able to make it through your particular ordeal. I had a battalion commander in Germany who got burned up pretty thoroughly as a young Lt after being shot down in an OH-6 in Viet Nam. I always had a great deal of respect for him. Not only because of what he did to end up that way, (attempting to rescue his crew chief from the burning wreck) but also for what he went through to make it back to flight status and continue his Army career. He called himself "The Army poster-child for fire safety" or words to that effect. He had a sense of humor about being dubbed "Freddy Kruger" by some of kiddies in the unit too.

Any very small burns I've ever experienced don't even begin to compare, so I can only imagine. And respect.

I was extremely lucky that day and my burns and resulting scars are pretty minor....but were no laughing matter at the time.

Seeing your Nomex Gloves burn off your hands and followed by the backs of your hands bubble up and burst is something that I could have gone without.

In my incident, the Utility Hydraulic System, 1500 PSI, held quite a bit of fluid that was hot already, and when two of the three lines connected to my Brake Pedal got severed by a .51 Caliber Round....the atomized hydraulic fluid ignited.

The fire burned until the contents. had emptied.

The chin bubble had either shattered...or melted....or both due to the projectile passing through the aircraft and the slip stream fanned the fire.

Which made for an interesting few minutes.

Time does drag while you are sat in a fire playing the Wieiner at a Wiener Roast.

We were flushing that crap out of the supply system in the late 80's: maybe the Navy were more paranoid about fires than the Army. I imagine DLA/supply sorts offered the Army the old "when we use up all the 5606 in the system you can order it under the same NSN and get 83282 ..." attrition based supply, flight safety be damned, DLA attitude. DLA still sends non conforming parts to the operating forces ... some stuff never changes.

We were also burning JP-4 (More than 1/2 gasoline) while you guys were using JP-5. It's definitely fair to say the Navy was a little bit more concerned about fire!

It's also fair to say the DOD as a whole had it's share of supply chain challenges. We used to put on allot of flight hours chasing down Blackhawk parts throughout Germany. But command didn't mind too much because any unflown flight hours in this fiscal year's allocation got subtracted from the next FY allocation. Government efficiency at it's finest!

ORAC,

This is a documentary about that fire.....very sobering viewing when you think of being there in person when it was going on.