CH-47D N404AJ at RHV (2) - a photo on Flickriver

Billings Flying Service Boeing Vertol CH-47D N404AJ

Photographed while reloading with retardant to fight the SCU Lightning Complex fires east of San Jose, California.

This reloading station was located at Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) in San Jose.

According to online sources,* this Chinook wasn't delivered to its original purchaser, and it went on to have two "lives" with the U.S. Army under two different serial numbers, all before it began fighting wildfires!

N404AJ was originally built as a CH-47C, c/n P-079, by Elicotteri Meridionali in Italy under contract for the Imperial Iranian Air Force. Never delivered, it was impounded after the Iranian revolution, and it was eventually acquired by the U.S. government.

Assigned a Boeing c/n of B-744 and a U.S. Army serial of 85-24744, it was assigned to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

Some years later, it was remanufactured by Boeing Vertol to the CH-47D standard, and assigned both a new c/n, M3438, and a new U.S. Army serial, 92-0297. It was assigned to the Texas Army National Guard in 1993, and sold as surplus in 2015.

Its history immediately after the surplus sale is difficult to determine, but it was eventually acquired by Billings Flying Service, Inc. and modified for wildland fire fighting. US FAA records indicate that it was granted an airworthiness certificate in 2018.

That's quite a story for any aircraft, and this Chinook is playing a vital role in its third "life" fighting fires!

Billings Flying Service, Inc. (company web site):
billingsflyingservice.com

CH-47 Chinook (Wikipedia):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_CH-47_Chinook

*References:

www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1985.html

www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1992.html

www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=66726

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Taken on: August 29, 2020

Tags:

Elicotteri Meridionali

CH-47C

Chinook

P-079

Boeing

Vertol

B-744

85-24744

Pennsylvania

Army

National Guard

remanufactured

CH-47D

M3438

92-0297

Texas

Billings

Flying Service

Montana

N404AJ

aerial

firefighting

air tanker

snorkel

reloading

retardant

Phos-Chek

Reid-Hillview

airport

San Jose

KRHV

RHV

Cold War

helicopter « less

Sets appears in: • Aircraft, Fire Fighting • Reid-Hillview Airport

Groups appears in: • Aviation • Silicon Valley Photographers more » • Fire Bombers • CH-47 Chinook / CH-46 Sea Knight • The Aviation Museum • General Aviation • Helicopter Photos (Civilian and/or Military) « less

Camera: Nikon D750, f/8.0, 1/1000 sec, 300mm, ISO 250 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D750
Lens:	70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	300mm
ISO:	250
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 17.0 (Macintosh)
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