Rotary Wing Engine

Philadelphia: As part of the Boeing India Media tour 2012, FORCE was invited to visit the company’s rotary wing production facilities at its ‘Mobility’ headquarters in Philadelphia. It is here where the revolutionary Bell Boeing V-22 ‘Osprey’ tiltrotor and CH-47 Chinook tandem rotor, medium-lift helicopter are built. This year, the Chinook celebrated 50th anniversary of the 1st CH-47 Delivery (A model) to the Indian Army. The other place visited was Boeing’s Mesa, Arizona facility where the AH-64D Apache Longbow is produced. The AH-64D Apache Block III has already been selected as the winner of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) requirement for 22 next generation attack helicopters and the CH-47 Chinook is in the running for 15 heavy-lift helicopters for the IAF. Keeping this in mind, the visit was an exciting opportunity to meet with the teams who build these helicopters and also take a look at the production facilities.