Helicopters

 The Army's much beloved heavy lift helicopter lifts off the deck of a US Navy ship.

CARIBBEAN SEA (Nov. 21, 2020) A CH-47 Chinook helicopter assigned to Joint Task Force-Bravo, takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45) in support of U.S. Southern Command’s Hurricane Iota relief efforts in Central America, Nov. 27, 2020. Comstock is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Michael Frojd)

I never flew in Chinooks much, but I was talking to an old -47 crew chief who told me that there was so much hydraulics in the bird, that when it quit leaking, he was pretty sure that he was out of hydraulic fluid.

In other news, it seems that the Army is retiring the much beloved OH-58, the scout and admin helicopter that has serves the Army for so many years.  A buddy of mine at Fort Polk tells me that the old bird is bing replaced by a newer copter, the UH-72.  The old Bell helicopter was a manstay of the fleet since Vietnam, and now we see another old soldier being put out to pasture.