Daily Kimchi: Flying on a Chinook

Yesterday I got a great opportunity... to go for a flight on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter! Our squadron had gotten permission from Camp Humphries (the Army base in Pyongtaek) to bring a group down to fly on the helo. There were about 100 of us broken up in to 4 groups, called chalks. I was in Chalk #3. Here's a picture of that crazy group.

Once we were at Camp Humphries we could see all the Chinooks lined up on the side of the taxiway. Even from this distance they looked very big and impressive.

But it wasn't until we were next to the hanger, and saw some mechanics working on one that I got a sense of the real size of these things. They are even more impressive up close... and the rotors are huge.

Before we could take our flights we had to have our safety breifing. This is a picture form the inside of the Chinook we flew on. I'm sure that having the flag there on the ceiling at all times helps the troops inside remember why they are there.

Here is a look toward the front of the helo from the inside during our brief. Our briefer also gave us a lot of information about the aircraft, like the fact that it could lift up to 50,000 lbs and fly at a normal cruising speed of about 150 knots.

Once all 4 chalks had been given their briefings, the flights began. Here is the first group as they took off.

The rest of us had to just wait for our turn to arrive. Being in chalk #3, we had about a 2 hour wait before our flight. So some folks decided to relax in the sun and get a bit of shut eye.

Of course the wait didn't last forever and we finally got our chance to go. Here is another look at my group as we lined up in preparation to go. We had to be lined up in two lines so that we could easily walk onto the helo and sit in the seats along both sides. I got a seat in the back just like I wanted... I figured that was the place for the best pictures.

And here we are entering the Chinook. After the first group's flight they did what they called a "warm start" where they loaded us on while the rotors were still moving. It really created a lot of draft underneath as we entered.

Here is looking out the back of the helo as we took off. It was really amazing, and had my adrenaline pumping.

I think this is my favorite picture from the day. It just looks so peaceful with the flight mechanic sitting on the ramp with the hills and lake in the background.

The most adrenaline pumping action came as we flew in and out of the valleys between the hill country. As you can see from this picture we got to a pretty steep banking angle. In fact, this wasn't even the steepest angle we had. At one point I would swear we were nearly perpendicular to the ground. It was intense!

And this just amazed me. The mechanic was checking something on the ramp and just leaned out over the edge (with his safety strap secure of course) and took care of whatever was needed with not even a second thought or concern. It was great to see that he was so secure in his job and the aircraft.

These next few pictures are of the final part of our flight. They flew us up onto the peak of a mountain nearby (not really a mountain, more like a high hill... but still cool) and let us off to take pictures and look around. It was cool to see just how capable this helicopter was to land up there. Also, you might notice an odd expression on my face in the next photo. I was trying to just smile, but with the down draft from the back rotor and the high winds we were getting on the peak I look really weird. Oh well.