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Billings Flying Service receives FAA approval for CH-47Ds

By Vertical Mag | July 30, 2014

Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 36 seconds.

Billings Flying Service is poised to begin commercial operations with the first of its three recently acquired CH-47D Chinook helicopters, following the issuance of a restricted category type certificate for the aircraft by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA issued the type certificate to this Billings, Mont.-based company this week. According to co-owner Al Blain, “We’re hopeful that by the first or second week of August we can be open for business with these things.”
The approval is a first for the CH-47D model, which will bring an impressive 26,000-pound (11,790-kilogram) external payload capacity to the commercial market. Billings Flying Service is one of three civilian operators — along with CHI Aviation and Columbia Helicopters — to acquire the model, following a series of auctions of surplus CH-47Ds previously operated by the U.S. Army.
Billings Flying Service snapped up the first two CH-47Ds that went to auction, taking delivery of those aircraft in February. According to Blain, however, the company began preparing its CH-47D program well before then, one reason why it was able to obtain its restricted category type certificate relatively quickly.
It also helped that the company has significant experience with military surplus aircraft, having previously converted more than 40 surplus UH-1H Huey helicopters to restricted category type certificates.
Blain said that the CH-47Ds will be rolled into the company’s Federal Aviation Regulations Part 133 external load operations, where they will join its Sikorsky S-61 helicopters in performing a range of heavy-lift construction jobs. “We think there’s going to be quite a bit of work for these things,” he said, noting that, performance-wise, “Nothing can touch them.”
The company also expects to deploy the Chinooks for aerial firefighting, where it sees them as a potential competitor to fixed-wing air tankers, not just other helicopters. Blain said that Billings Flying Service has a history of working with CHI Aviation (formerly Construction Helicopters), and hopes to partner with the company to develop a tank for the aircraft. “The Forest Service has expressed some interest in it,” he said.
Beyond its killer performance, Blain said that the ready availability of parts; repair and overhaul services; and qualified pilots and maintainers are all strong selling points for the D model, which saw extensive service during the War in Afghanistan. “There’s a whole volume of people out there who have been working on them and flying them,” Blain said, explaining that Billings Flying Service drew on that expertise to develop its own CH-47D program.
“We’re excited to get to work,” he said. “I haven’t been this excited about an aircraft in a long time.”

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