Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185.

90-00185

N562AJ

The unit patch of Company A, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, Washington Army Reserve.

Property of

Company A - " Hook-ers "

5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment

Fort Lewis, Washington

2009 - 2013

CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 hovering at Boeing Field (KBFI), Seattle, Washington in October 2012. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image.

   90-00185, Boeing D model kit number M3337, was a CH-47D helicopter. The U.S. Army acceptance date was 21 December 1990. 90-00185 was test flown and accepted at 3,098.1 aircraft hours. As of 10 January 2014, 90-00185 had accumulated at least 3,292.6 D model hours and 6,383.6 total aircraft hours.

   90-00185 was a conversion from the original C model Chinook 70-15009.

   On 12 January 1990, 90-00185 was inducted into the D model program, converted (conversion complete on 3 December 1990) and initially assigned to an unknown unit at Army Support Facility 37 (ASF 37), 102nd Army Reserve Command, located at Olathe, Kansas, on or about 5 January 1991, at 3,103.9 aircraft hours.

   On or about 8 August 1996, 90-00185 was transferred to an unknown unit at the Army Support Facility located on Paine Field (KPAE), Everett, Washington, at 4,011.7 aircraft hours.

   In late 1996, the unit and aircraft moved to Gray Army Airfield (KGRF), located on Fort Lewis, Washington.

   On or about 9 May 2003, 90-00185 was transferred to Company A, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, located at Fort Hood, Texas, at 4,721.1 aircraft hours.

   On or about 26 April 2005, 90-00185 was transferred to Company B, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, located at New Century (Olathe), Kansas, at approximately 4,958.0 aircraft hours.

   On or about 4 November 2005, 90-00185 was transferred to Company A, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, located at Fort Hood, Texas, at approximately 5,020.0 aircraft hours.

   Records indicate that from approximately May through October 2006, 90-00185 floated between several units located at Olathe, Kansas, Fort Carson, Colorado and Fort Eustis, Virginia.

   From approximately January 2007, 90-00185 was located at Olathe, Kansas.

   On or about 3 August 2009, 90-00185 was tranferred to Army Support Facility at Fort Lewis, Washington and assigned to Company A - "Hook-ers", 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, Washington Army Reserve.

   At some point (estimated May 2013), 90-00185 was transferred to the General Services Administration control and was located at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama.

   In 2013, the Aviation Missile Command (AMCOM) decided to sell CH-47D airframes on the open market to dispose of the D model fleet and utilize the funds acquired in the sale of those assets to fund future CH-47 requirements. The United States Government General Services Administration (GSA) handled the auction process.

   90-00184 and 90-00185 were the first two airframes sold at auction and went to Billings Flying Service, Billings, Montana.

   Bidding started at a minimum of $1,000,000 US and 90-00185 sold for $3,500,500.

   The airframe components had some rather decent time remaining before replacement of most critical flight safety items. The Aft Swashplate had only 61 flight hours remaining before replacement and the next critical part was the rotor hub tie-bar assemblies due in 492 flight hours.

   90-00185 received the Federal Aviation Administration registration N number of N562AJ

   As of 10 January 2014, this aircraft was 42.7 years old.

   The last known location of 90-00185 was in Billings, Montana.

   Aircraft status: Flyable.

Chinook helicopter 90-00185 flies over Mount Rainier, Washington, while assigned to the Washington Army Reserve. Members of the National Park Service shield their faces from the sting of the ice and snow stirred up by rotor blades of the helicopter that had just deposited them there. TheNational Park Service Rangers prepare to practice for high-altitude rescues. They're at the 9,000-foot level on the northeast side of Mount Rainier, at Camp Schurman.

An article from the Northwest Guardian, 8 June 2001.

This article appeared in the Northwest Guardian on Friday, 8 June 2001.

CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185, based at Gray Army Airfield (KGRF), Joint Base Lewis McChord, drops a semi-rigid inflatable boat out the back in preperation to drop US Army Reserve Special Forces Soldiers for a demonstration during the 2012 Seattle Seafair. Click-N-Go Here to view a larger version of this image.

Auction Photographs (GSA, circa 2013)

Right side view of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

Front view of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

Left side Aft Pylon and Number One Engine view of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

Right rear view of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

Rear view of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

Left rear view of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

Identifying information found aft of the left cockpit door of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

The cockpit of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

The Main Cabin area of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

The Ramp area of CH-47D Chinook helicopter 90-00185 sitting at Madison Executive Airport (KMDQ), Meridianville, Alabama, during the auction process as it went up for sale to the highest bidder on the commercial market.

Video

Click-N-Go Here watch a Video of CH-47D Chinook helicopters 90-00184 and 90-00185 land in Billings, Montana with a new lease on life. [1:30, 15.8 Mb, audio included].

20 February 2014: The link above points to Video file where Billings Flying Service owner Gary Blaine explains that two recently purchased used CH-47D Chinook helicopters will be used for construction and fire fighting duty. 90-00185 was given the Federal Aviation Administration registration number of N562AJ. The N number for 90-00184 is N561AJ.

Due to the large file size, it is recommended that you Right Click the link and select "Save Target As" to save the file to your computer before attempting to view.

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