It was widely reported that Chinook ZA718/BN – the most famous Chinook helicopter in the world was at HC6A configuration at the time of its arrival at RAFM Cosford on 15 Mar 2022.
The MOD, as opposed to the RAFM, have officially confirmed to me, this morning, after many lengthy discussions on the matter that it is in HC4 configuration. It was never uplifted to HC6A. This is at odds to the airframes entry in the Military Aircraft Register (MAR) and its SOC confirmation certificate.
In addition, this fact / revelation goes against all MOD press reports issued at the time of ZA718/BN being transported to RAFM Cosford for display. Those press reports were widely circulated within the aviation press and published books.
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By: hypersonic - 14th January 2025 at 07:49
By: hypersonic - 14th January 2025 at 07:49
I’m still trying to convince the MOD they should issue an official press release. In order to correct the situation – of their making!!
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By: TonyT - 13th January 2025 at 23:02
By: TonyT - 13th January 2025 at 23:02
I still remember her fresh off the boat brand new… sigh how the years have flown by…. Pun intended.
By: Prop Strike - 5th December 2024 at 10:20
Many thanks.
A very comprehensive answer !
By: hypersonic - 29th November 2024 at 17:04
The difference is the introduction of Mod 349 to create the HC6A (or Baseline 6A).
This work typically took 6 months to complete and was the intro of the Digital Automatic Flight Control System (D-AFCS). Also, a piece of nav kit (TACAN) saw a more modern and reliable box fitted. In essence you could use the stick to point the nose/airframe at a nearby location or altitude and the airframe would move hands-off and hold/hover when it got there. The system could also be used to land blind in total darkness, white out (snow) or brown out (sand) all basically hands-free.
The system comes as standard on the later CH-47F (HC6, in the UK) and all later versions from that. The UK HC6A (CH-47D) is the only legacy airframe of the type, in the World, so fitted.
ZA718/BN was always going to attend the “production line” but never did – for reasons I have yet to establish. The MAA were slightly ahead of the game when they changed ZA718/BNs entry on the Military Aircraft Register (MAR) to reflect the non-existent uplift.
If you are a member of Air-Britain a large spreadsheet document has been sent to “HQ” and will be uploaded shortly covering the history of the iconic Wokka in the UK. In fact it was already there in the queue when I had to urgently retrieve it for amendment earlier this week. Having been told by Whitehall all was not as they had said – “code for fake news”.
In Dec 2017 I left the MOD at the time I was working on bringing ZA718/BN home from the Falklands as tour-ex. Whilst I was doing that I was totally unaware she had already flown for the last time – a piece of irony!!!
So to answer your question – yes.
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By: Prop Strike - 29th November 2024 at 13:56
What are the differences? Are they mainly avionics?
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November 26, 2024 at 1:30 pm