From the S&S archives: Army Chinooks shrink-wrapped for U.S. shipment

MANNHEIM, West Germany — The Chinook helicopters bound for the States arrived at Coleman Army Airfield looking quite normal.

But, after two days in the hands of Co B, 70th Trans Bn, an aviation maintenance unit, the CH-47s emerged from hangars hardly recognizable as aircraft. With rotor blades removed and airframes covered in tight-fitting, shiny-white plastic wrap, the helicopters looked like alien spacecraft.

Throughout the year, 60 outgoing C-model CH-47s and 48 incoming D models have passed through the hangars of Co B. The last shipment of D-model Chinooks — a refitted, upgraded C model — arrived in Germany last week, bringing the yearlong mission to an end.

Learning how to drape wide strips of plastic over the Army's largest helicopter and shrink the plastic to a form-fit with a propane torch was just the beginning of challenges facing Co B, said Lt. Col. Kenneth R. Stein, project manager for the CH-47 fielding team.

Ahead lay the task of towing five Chinooks at a time down local roads to a Rhine River dock. Once there, each aircraft had to be steered onto a barge ramp — with only inches to spare.

One broken lens on a small side lamp was the only loading casualty, Stein said.

Then a soldier from Co B accompanied the Chinooks on the two-day barge trip to Rotterdam, Netherlands, where he was joined by a unit assistance team to oversee the transfer of the aircraft to merchant marine vessels heading for Bayonne, N.J.

Meanwhile, the shrink-wrapped D-model Chinooks — models upgraded at the Boeing helicopter plant in Philadelphia — were on their way to Rotterdam.

Those aircraft also passed through Co B hangars, where the earlier transformation was reversed — off with the shrink wrap, on with the rotor blades, out for a test flight, then off to new homes.

All three Chinook companies in Europe — 205th Aviation Co, 8th Aviation Bn, at Mainz-Finthen; Co A, 5th Bn, 159th Aviation Regt, at Schwäbisch Hall; and Co B, 6th Bn., 158th Aviation Regt, at Coleman Barracks — exchanged their inventories of 20 C-model Chinooks for 16 D models.

"The D is able to carry more, farther and faster, so it can do more in one trip than the Cs could," Stein said.

In addition to the three companies in Germany, a fourth Chinook unit — the 394th Aviation Co — will be activated somewhere in Europe during the coming year, he said.

A rebuilt model D costs $5 million, Stein said, compared to $14 million for a new helicopter.