3 Latest Model CH-47 Chinook helicopters arrive at Army National Guard Flight Facility in Rochester Wednesday

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New York Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Scott in the high-tech cockpit of a new CH-47 F during training in Georgia on Oct. 16.

ROCHESTER, NY (10/28/2014)(readMedia)-- Three of the latest model "Chinook" helicopters, which will be flown by the New York Army National Guard at Rochester International Airport , arrive at the Army Aviation Support Facility here on Wednesday afternoon.

Members of the press are invited to observe the arrive of the three CH-47F helicopters assigned to Detachment 1 of Company B 3rd Battalion 126th Aviation and speak with Army National Guard aviators about this latest addition to the New York National Guard aircraft inventory.

WHO: Members of Company B 3rd Battalion 126th Aviation.

WHAT: Arrival of three CH-47F helicopters from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. The B Company Soldier have been conducting new equipment training there for the past month. One of the new Chinooks was flown back home to Rochester on Oct. 22 and the second arrived on Oct. 24. The aircraft were manufactured at the Boeing plant in Philadelphia this summer. The aircraft can be used to support state emergency response missions as the CH-47D helicopters flown out of Rochester did in 2011 and 2012 when they were used to move priority supplies.

WHEN: Aircraft are expected to arrive around 3 p.m. on, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014. Aircraft arrival may be later.

WHERE: Army Aviation Support Facility, 76 Patriot Way Rochester, NY 14624

Members of the press should contact the Army Aviation Support Facility flight operations office at (585) 783-5406 for access to this secure military facility.

Coverage Opportunities:

Still and video camera operators will be able to capture imagery of three CH-47F heavy lift helicopters arriving. Interviews can be arranged with members of the aircrew and leadership of Company B 3-126th Aviation.

BACKGROUND:

CH-47F CHINOOK HEAVY LIFT HELICOPTER

The CH-47 "Chinook" has been flown by the United States Army and the military forces of allied nations since 1962. CH-47 model helicopters were used widely in the Vietnam War and in the 1991 Gulf War as well as in Afghanistan and Iraq. CH-47s are immensely important in providing mobility for modern armies.

The heavy lift helicopter can carry between 33 to 55 troops and lift up to 13 tons of cargo slung underneath the fuselage. The helicopter is just under 100 feet long and 19 feet high. It is powered by two turbine engines driving two rotor blades that are 60 feet in diameter.

The CH-47 has proven immensely valuable in the mountains of Afghanistan because the twin rotors provide lift at high altitudes and in cold weather. Specially modified versions are used by Special Forces elements in that country.

Almost 1200 CH-47s have been produced since 1962. The New York Army National Guard operates five CH-47s which are based at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Rochester. New York Army National Guard CH-47s have deployed to Afghanistan to support forces there and were used to supply civilian and military forces aiding New York City residents in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The CH-47F model just acquired contains a number of improvements designed to make the helicopter more reliable and keep it flying longer. The newest version of the helicopter contains new avionics, a redesigned ramp and rear rotor pylon, and incorporate new countermeasures against ground to air missiles. The new helicopter is also designed to make it easier to prepare it for shipment in the fuselage of a C-5 or C-17 cargo plane.

While most of the changes cannot be noticed by laymen the new version of the CH-47 sports a new low observable paint scheme, different from the dark green local residents are used to seeing.

The biggest change in the new CH-47 is the all digital "glass cockpit" instrument array which replaces many dials with integrated computer readouts. Known officially as the Common Avionics Architecture System, the array of computer readouts incorporate information for the aircraft pilots in an easily managed format. The new digital readouts were designed to reflect lessons learned in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

DETACHMENT 1, COMPANY B, 3rd BATTALION 126th AVIATION

Nicknamed "Kong" The Soldiers of Company B 3rd Battalion 126th Aviation have deployed to Afghanistan twice to support United States Forces there.

The Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 and the company was recognized as the Army National Guard aviation unit of the year for 2008 by the Army Aviation Association of America for the company's accomplishments in Afghanistan, including participating in the largest air assault operation in that country since 2002.

In 2012 and 2013 the Soldiers deployed once again to Afghanistan to move troops and supplies across the country.

In 2009 the detachment's pilots and other Soldiers trained Canadian Forces pilots to operate the CH-47 because all of that country's CH-47s were already deployed to Afghanistan. The detachment also sent Soldiers and helicopters to assist in the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Soldiers of Company B carried priority supplies during the New York National Guard response to Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and to Tropical Storms Lee and Irene in 2011. In June 2011 a helicopter assigned to the company plucked a motorboat stuck in the Nigiara Falls rapids off the lip of the falls before it could go over.

Detachment 1 of the company is based in Rochester while the other half of the company is part of the Maryland Army National Guard.