In 1960, Boeing bought Vertol Aircraft Co., a helicopter manufacturer in Philadelphia, Pa. The company had three tandem-rotor helicopters in production: the Chinook for the Army, the Sea Knight for the Navy and the Marines and the commercial 107-11 for the airlines. Chinooks first were used in combat in 1965 during the Vietnam conflict. By 1968, the Chinook had put in 161,000 hours of flying time, carrying 22.4 million passengers and more than 1.3 million tons of cargo. During the last days of the war, one Chinook is reported to have carried 147 refugees in a single lift. CH-47A, B and C models served with distinction for a decade until the war's end in 1975. During 2002, Boeing was developing the CH-47F, scheduled for first production in 2004 and was under contract to modernize at least 300 Chinooks to the new F-model standard, which featured reduced vibration, an integrated cockpit control system and more powerful engines with digital fuel controls. These improvements would make the Chinook fully compatible with 21st century operational and war-fighting requirements and improve the aircraft's efficiency and effectiveness. (From Boeing's website). The CH-47 as represented in the Trumpeter box is a machine assigned to the US Army Aviation Test Board at Fort Rucker, Alabama. This helicopter was used for logistics evaluations.
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