89-00174

 

         

 

          B Company - "Sugar Bears North" unit patch.
242 ASHC / B Company - "Sugar Bears North" D model fielding poster.
B Company - "Sugar Bears North" High Altitude Rescue Team (HART) patch.

 

             89-00174, Boeing D model kit number M3328, was a CH-47D helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 26 October 1990. As of 28 September 2001, 89-00174 had accumulated 1,706.6 D model hours and 5,044.6 total aircraft hours. 89-00174 was a conversion from the original C model Chinook 67-18551. On 31 October 1989, 89-00174 was inducted into the D model program, conversion complete on 25 September 1990, and initially assigned B Company - "Sugar Bears North", 4th Battalion, 123rd Aviation Regiment, located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Fort Wainwright was the former historic Ladd Field of World War Two era fame. B Company was the former C Company, 228th Aviation Regiment (16 October 1987 - 24 June 1994). C Company was the former 242nd Assault Support Helicopter Company (ASHC) - "Muleskinners" (located in Alaska from November 1971 through 16 October 1987). When United States involvement in the Vietnam conflict ended, 242nd ASHC was re-located from the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) to Alaska. The aviation unit in Alaska at the time was designated the 236th ASHC, 19th Aviation Battalion (April 1971 - November 1971). When the 242nd ASHC re-located to Alaska and re-formed, the unit name changed from "Muleskinners" to "Sugar Bears" and the unit designation went from the 236th ASHC to the 242nd ASHC. At some point, the unit was split into two companies. One company remained in Alaska and became known as "Sugar Bears North". The other company, C Company, 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, was relocated to Fort Kobbe, Panama and became known as "Sugar Bears South". Data from Historical Records. As of 1 January 2002, this aircraft was 33.4 years old. As of 28 September 2001, the last known location of 89-00174 was Fort Wainwright, Alaska, assigned to B Company, 4th Batalion, 123rd Aviation Regimnet. Aircraft status: Flyable.

             In the 3 May 2002 photographs shown below, 89-00174, piloted by CW4 Mark S. Morgan and CW2 Gary Brown, is captured on film in need of fuel at the Valdez, Alaska airport, having just dropped off some much needed repair parts for it's broken sister ship 89-00171. The Flight Engineer on 89-00174 was SSG Anthony Kuntz.

 

         
89-00174 at the ERA gas point in Valdez, Alaska.

 

         
89-00174, foreground, stands next to sister ship 89-00181 at the Valdez airport.

 

 

             CW2 Gary Brown, maintenance test pilot and all around nice guy, stands next to broken sister ship 89-00171.

 

         
CW2 Gary Brown stands next to broken sister ship 89-00171 at the Valdez airport.

 

         
89-00174 Flight Engineer SSG Anthony Kuntz.

 

 

             On the way home, the Sugar Bears enjoyed the view of Worthington Glacier to the northeast of Valdez.

 

         
Worthington glacier, the arrow shows the base of the glacier that the foot path leads up to should visitors decide to drive out and see the glacier up close.

 

 

          This aircraft was piloted by:

 

          CW4 Mark S. Morgan, PC/MTP/ME, 2000 - 2003.

 

          Your Name Here.

 

          This aircraft was crewed by:

 

          Your Name Here.

 

 

          The CH-47 - 40 years old and still circling the world.

         

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