{"id":60098,"date":"2025-07-01T20:39:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T18:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=60098"},"modified":"2026-07-01T00:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:31:33","slug":"an-elephant-as-agile-as-a-gazelle-the-great-display-of-a-spanish-ch-47f-helicopter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/07\/01\/an-elephant-as-agile-as-a-gazelle-the-great-display-of-a-spanish-ch-47f-helicopter\/","title":{"rendered":"An elephant as agile as a gazelle: the great display of a Spanish CH-47F helicopter"},"content":{"rendered":"

El Boeing CH-47F Chinook es el helic\u00f3ptero m\u00e1s pesado que vuela hoy en d\u00eda en Espa\u00f1a, tanto en la esfera militar como en la civil.<\/p>\n

The Spanish Army already has 17 heavy CH-47 Chinook helicopters of the Foxtrot version<\/a><\/rel>
\nA FAMET pilot explains in detail the CH-47F Chinook helicopters of the Spanish Army<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

These helicopters are operated by the 5th Transport Helicopter Battalion (BHELTRA V)<\/strong> of the Spanish Army's Airmobile Forces (FAMET), which is based at the Coronel Mat\u00e9 Air Force Base in Colmenar Viejo, Madrid. Currently, the Spanish Army has 17 CH-47Fs and is expecting one more.<\/a> This fleet of Chinooks is made up of 13 modernized CH-47Ds. These helicopters are painted in the FS34201 (Woodland Desert Sage) color<\/strong>, introduced in 2006 by the US Army for its CH-47Fs and which is more suitable for desert or sparsely vegetated environments.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
A Spanish CH-47F, the HT.17-29A (ET-429) flying in Iraq (Photo: U.S. Army).<\/div>\n

Despite their size and weight, Chinooks are helicopters as heavy as elephants but as agile as gazelles<\/strong>, thanks to their two coaxial rotors in tandem, a configuration that also provides great stability<\/strong>, something very necessary for heavy load lifting operations, which this helicopter can carry out both inside and outside its fuselage, using slings attached to two anchor points.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
A Spanish CH-47F, the HT.17-26A (ET-426) lifting an L-118 Light Gun howitzer and an EINSA Falcata mechanical mule during an exercise in November 2023 (Photo: Ej\u00e9rcito de Tierra<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Recently, at the Aire 25 festival held in San Javier (Murcia), a FAMET CH-47F gave a great demonstration<\/strong> of its capabilities and maneuverability. The Chinook that performed this display is the HT.17-32A (ET-432). Unfortunately, TVE did not show this flight in its broadcast of that air festival<\/strong>, but the excellent YouTube channel Fly By Wire Aviation<\/a> (which I recommend subscribing to if you like aeronautical matters) has published a video showing how it went:<\/strong><\/p>\n