Boeing HC-1B Chinook helicopter 60-03448.

60-03448

Chinook helicopter 60-03448 and the airframe mounted lifting crane designed to aid in the removal and replacement of large, heavy components such as the engines and rotor blades, circa 1964.

   60-03448 (originally 60-3448), Boeing Build number B-007, was a HC-1B helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 8 February 1963. The administrative strike date was 25 May 1972. 60-03448 accumulated 533.0 total aircraft hours.

   60-03448 was the first production configured aircraft, manufactured as a result of expansion of contract AF33(600)39452 to include an additional five HC-1B production aircraft (60-03448, 60-03449, 60-03450, 60-03451, 60-03452).

   In July 1962, the Department of Defense redesignated all U.S. military aircraft to a new system. All HC-1B helicopters became CH-47A. 60-03448 received the designation as a JCH-47A, where the J stood for Joint, as a result of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army cooperation in developing the aircraft.

   In the Summer of 1963, 60-03448 was sent to the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California, for Air Force Category II tests encompassing performance, flying qualities, and operational capability.

   During the winter of 1965-1966, 60-03448 was located in North Dakota undergoing cold weather testing and evaluation. It is thought the name of the Crew Chief during that phase was SSGT Paul J. Comstock.

   At some point, through an unknown end date, 60-03448 was assigned to Fort Eustis, Virginia, where it was used as a training device in the 67U maintenance course. Conversations between Joe Yaglinski, a former the Boeing Vertol Technical Representative (Tech Rep), and Lowell Maybrier, one of the first Crew Chiefs in the United States Air Force (USAF) on CH-47 helicopters, revealed that 60-03448 was at Boeing in 1987 where it was being utilized as a storage shed at the Morton, Pennsylvania, facilities.

   60-03448 was possibly in storage at Davis Monthan through about September 1992.

   The last known location of 60-03448 at the Boeing facilities in Morton, Pennsylvania in 1987.

   Aircraft status: Unknown.

Coyote Flats

In the early 1960's, while the YH-1B was still young and undergoing research and development, USAF aircrews would conduct testing and evaluation at Edwards AFB. Each year from May through October, or when the first snow fall occurred, helicopters undergoing testing would deploy from Edwards to stage at Bishop, California, to accomplish high altitude take offs and landings. Coyote Flats, southwest of Bishop, was the actual testing site. The altitude of the site was in excess of 10,000 feet - which was more than adequate for the high altitude testing required of the Chinook. In the photograph below, taken in the Summer of 1964, one can see the instrumentation boom on the front of the helicopter. When the 60-03448 initially arrived at Edwards, the boom was almost fifteen feet long. After several take-offs at Coyote Flats the boom kept getting shorter. Aircrews would try to get the Chinook in a stabilized hover, drop the nose and go for it. On several occasions the aircrew just drove the boom into the ground. Eventually, the boom became only five or six feet long.

A Crew Chief's Recollection

As indicated in the June 1963 set of orders shown above, Lowell Maybrier, formerly an Airman First Class in the United States Air Force, and from whom most of this information on this page was so thankfully obtained from, joined the test crew at Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri, for the trip out to Edwards AFB, California.

On the deployment trip enroute to and at Edwards AFB, Lowell Maybrier remembers: "Every two hours we had to be on the ground to refuel and check the ship. For some reason the rotor blade tips would crack. They were made of metal and were screwed on. There was a whole big box of spares on board the first time saw the ship. The aircraft was full of spare parts actually. My first job on the Chinook was to inspect and replace cracked rotor blade tips. My next job was to remove and inspect any oil filters for pieces of metal that could be removed. This was done every day after we finished flying. At the end of one day, I did find metal in the forward gearbox and that scared the stuffing out of everyone. We had to change that gearbox before we could go on. Another job they gave me was to inspect the blower area [combining transmission area]. I was pretty small and if I stripped down to my waist I could get my upper body in there and have a good look. A year or so later, when we were all tired of testing and wanted a rest I would get in there and always find a crack. That's all it took to ground the ship. Then we had to wait for the sheet metal folks to come up from Edwards to fix it. We got a break. Some times it went the other way and the crew said if it's small don't mention it. We tested seven days a week and the days were long. I would get up at 2:30 go have breakfast, be at the aircraft before 4:00, pre-flight and take off at 5:00. This was the procedure anywhere we tested."

A2C Lowell Maybrier's stay on the team was extended in order to support the continued testing and evaluation of the helicopter.

" Porky "

The original name of 60-03448, given to it by the crew was "Porky". This can be seen on the forward crown above the cockpit windows.

Shown, in the photograph above taken at Coyote Flats, are members of the United States Air Force who were part of the test and evaluation crew of 60-03448 during the Summer of 1965. From left to right - Front row: A1C Lowell Maybrier - crew chief / mechanic, A1C Walter Rowe - special instrumentation, S/Sgt. James K. Hall - crew chief / mechanic, A2C Wayne Dychkowski - crew chief / mechanic, John Somsel - Civilian aeronautical engineer / assistant to Frank Tonaka. Second row: T/Sgt Richard Ainsworth - crew chief / mechanic, Frank Tonaka - civilian aeronautical engineer and project flight test engineer (always flew when 448 was tested), Captain Paul J. Balfe - project pilot, Unknown U.S. Army Lt. Colonel, Paul Gibbs - civilian special instrumentation, Unknown Fireman, Unknown Fireman, Unknown Civilian - left the project after a blade stall incident, Unknown Medic and survival expert.

A1C Maybrier recollects: "The first year I was on the 448, we pretty much had the same crew that came out with it [from the Boeing factory in Pennsylvania]. As time went on, my bosses left for other test helicopters and other helicopter duties at the base. Our unit also flew X-15 support with the H-21. When I was discharged [1965] I was the only original crewmember left on the Chinook. I never had enough rank to get off the project."

"White Tortilla"

After having received a fresh coat of paint, 60-03448 was renamed "White Tortilla". This can be seen on the forward crown above the cockpit windows. Lowell Maybrier is in the back row, left. The names of the other personnel are unknown.

"Photographs and News"

A rare photograph showing the interior of the CH-47A with the Maintenance Crane installed. The maintenance crane (the yellow item, mounted vertically on the right side) suppossedly provided the crew with the capability to change an engine without an additional ground support vehicle, such as a crane.