Boeing Commercial Chinook

The Boeing Helicopters Model 234 Commercial Chinook is, as its name suggests, a commercial variant of the successful CH47 Chinook military airlifter. <p>The Chinook was developed for the US Army and first flew in September 1961, and since then has been developed into a number of progressively improved variants. The Commercial Chinook was not launched until 1978, following a British Airways Helicopters order for three for North Sea oil rig support missions. The Commercial Chinook's first flight occurred on August 19 1980, certification was granted in June 1981, and service entry was the following month. <p>Largely identical in configuration to the CH47, the Commercial Chinook retains the former's rear cargo ramp, but has a slightly reprofiled nose, commercial avionics and large passenger windows along both sides of the main cabin. <p>The initial orders were for the 234 LR Long Range, which compared with the CH47 has roughly twice the fuel load, plus a 44 seat passenger interior based on that used in Boeing jetliners. A number of other versions were offered - the 234 ER Extended Range with additional tankage, the 234 UT Utility, and 234 MLR Multi purpose Long Range which can be used for passenger or freight operations, or a combination of both

The backbone of this section is from the The International Directory of Civil Aircraft by Gerard Frawley and used with permission. To get your own copy of the book click here.