Chinook Over Fairhope

A US Army Boeing CH-47F Chinook passes over Point Clear late Tuesday afternoon. The helicopter is captured around 3,000 feet high, moving at a groundspeed of 136 knots or 156 mph during a roughly 90 minute flight that started from Houma, LA with landing in Pensacola. A heavy-lift tandem rotor helicopter, the Chinook serves both combat and non-combat functions. When a load is connected by sling to the center, the Army says a Chinook can lift 26,000 pounds. The helicopter can carry 33 troops plus three flight crew members. Chinooks have flown for the Army since 1962 and have an extensive history of service during the Vietnam War, Including transporting soldiers and placing artillery batteries in mountainous areas inaccessible by other means. Chinooks are said to have retrieved more than 11,000 disabled aircraft during the war. Photo shot from Fairhope, roughly three and a half miles away…