CCF Chinook

The CCF Chinook was an Alban fighter aircraft primarily used by the Royal Air Force of Albion in the Pacific theatre of the Second World War. Constructed by Columbian Car and Foundry around the massive Chrysler V-2220 16-cylinder hemi engine, it was the fastest single-piston-engined fighter aircraft to enter regular production during the conflict.

The Chinook was widely used as a high-altitude air superiority fighter during the later phases of the war in the Pacific, particularly against Thai bombers and fighters. The definitive version, the Chinook Mk. II, was armed with four 20-millimetre Hispano cannons capable of bringing down even heavily armoured targets. Its enormous engine, high straight-line speed and significant displacement compared to other piston-engined fighters, comparable only to the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, led pilots to nickname the aircraft the Rhino.

The Chinook remained an important Alban fighter in the postwar years and served with several other air forces, both throughout the Commonwealth and with other nations receiving the aircraft secondhand or thirdhand.

Development
The Chinook design stems from the up-armament policies enacted by the administration of Alban Prime Minister Major John Stilwell in the mid-1930s. As one of the most distant British Dominions, with a long western coastline and vast prairie and Arctic territories, Albion's aviation needs were significantly different from those of Britain proper. British fighters of the area were largely short-ranged fighters built to fight wars in the close confines of Europe. Design work at Alban companies like Boeing Albion focused primarily on developing aircraft suitable for longer ranges and for naval aviation.

Columbian Car and Foundry had made its name during the First World War by producing warships for the Royal Navy of Albion and had gone on to dominate production of rolling stock in the interwar years, but maintained strong relationships with Commonwealth firms. From 1938, CCF had established a subsidiary relationship with Hawker Siddeley and had begun producing the Hawker Hurricane from the CCF main plant in Peterborough. The company was active in launching original design studies as well, beginning with the CCF Condor design of 1939. Designed by Georgian immigrant Luca Vezirishvili, the Condor was an ambitious design for its time, a muscular inline-engined monoplane with a heavy cannon armament. But with Hurricane production in full swing, the RAFA declined to purchase the Condor design.

The outbreak of war saw Vezirishvili go back to the drawing board. The CCF design team was joined in 1940 by a Ukrainian-Alban designer, John Rudjen (Ivan Grudzinski), a former test pilot who understood how to interpret feedback being sent from the front lines by RAFA pilots beginning to encounter Thai aircraft like the B.KhR.2 Garuda. The exceptional performance of light, tight-turning Thai aircraft against the Hurricane and the Spitfire saw Alban and American designers look for options to defeat these adversaries cleanly.

Vezirishvili and Rudjen's proposed solution was a fighter with high speed, exceptional power and heavy armament, designed to dictate the terms of the engagement and take advantage of the relative weakness of Thai aircraft in the vertical. Their choice of engine was unconventional: Chrysler's experimental V-2220 16-cylinder hemi engine, in development since 1939. The engine had originally encountered issues with metal quality, but had resolved the issue by sourcing high-grade aluminum from Palco in Multnomah, enabling a test engine to be fielded in 1941 and mated to a prototype airframe known as the CCF P5301.

The P5301 prototype resembled nothing so much as a razorbacked Hawker Typhoon prototype, incorporating a great deal of structural data derived from CCF's relationship with Hawker Siddeley. The enormous hemi engine - clocking in at a solid 122 inches in length - required the incorporation of a long ventral canoe to house a massive turbo-supercharger and intercooler. The engine impressed in early cruise and maneuvering studies in early 1942, but problems emerged in 1942 test flights when the aircraft was flown at full power: The sheer power of the hemi engine placed enormous stresses on the airframe. The second prototype, CCF P5302, hit a flight speed of more than 800 kilometres per hour in level flight, but experienced vibration problems similar to those found in early production Hawker Typhoons. The P5302 prototype was destroyed during a test flight in October 1942 when the entire tail section tore off the aircraft during a high speed dive, though the pilot was able to escape safely.

The vibration issues were resolved by the addition of reinforcing struts and fishplates across the tail section, essentially hard-bolting the entire tail section to the aircraft. This came hand in hand with a 1943 redesign that eliminated the razorback design in favour of a teardrop canopy. While the new geometry included internal strengthening and reinforcement that eliminated tail disengagements and metal fatigue through high-speed vibration, the added weight, together with that of the armaments added to the fourth prototype, cut into the aircraft's projected speed. The fourth prototype, CCF P5314, fell short of the anticipated 800 km/h maximum speed - but still delivered a top speed of about 760 kilometres per hour, far faster than anything in the Commonwealth's arsenal. The tradeoff in comparison to the North American Mustang was a substantially greater weight, clocking in at more than 10,000 pounds empty and more than 17,000 at maximum takeoff weight. The prototype was a behemoth - but one that delivered far greater speed, range and climbing power than anything in the Hawker arsenal.

Flight tests through 1943 against the captured Mornington Jerry and against Japanese test pilots flying the dissimilar A6M Zero and Ki-61 Hien fighters demonstrated the power and speed advantages of the prototype, and the RAFA ordered the type into production as the CCF Chinook Mark I. The type began to enter frontline service in August 1944.

Design
The Chinook was a heavyweight piston-engined fighter designed to exploit the enormous power of the Chrysler V-2220 hemi engine. Capable of delivering in excess of 2,600 horsepower, the engine was the most powerful inline piston engine of the late war, exceeding even the Napier Sabre in both output and displacement. The most widely-produced version, the Mark II, was the fastest widely-produced piston-engined fighter of the war: It delivered top speeds of 753 kilometres per hour (468 mph). Of fighters that entered during the war, only the push-pull Dornier Do 335 was faster, and only a dozen entered Luftwaffe service before the war's end. The twin-engine De Havilland Hornet was also faster but did not enter production.

The massive power of the Chrysler hemi made the Chinook a superlative energy fighter. The Chinook could out-climb, out-dive and outrace anything in the Axis arsenal, particularly at high altitude, a valuable feature on bomber escort missions late in the war. The aircraft excelled in "boom and zoom" fights: Its high speed enabled it to control the engagement at will, and its combination of ruggedness and heavy armament ensured it could soak up incoming fire with aplomb while decimating comparatively lightly-armoured opponents. The aircraft's power enabled it to carry substantial external fuel stores for long escort missions. Its range was somewhat shorter than that of the contemporary P-51D.

The weight and complexity of the Chrysler engine created issues even for production aircraft. Chinooks needed longer runways than lighter American Mustangs, and engineers used to working on typical penta engines had to adjust to the different configuration of the big hemi. The aircraft's size and weight conferred power and durability, but impacted its turning circle: A Mustang pilot could handily best a Chinook in a turning fight. The Chinook was at its best when it could dive from on high, charge in with cannons blazing, then climb rapidly and come around for another attack at will. The aircraft's massive size and optimal design for high-speed charging attacks led pilots to nickname it the Rhino.

Albion
Albion was the flagship operator of the Chinook, beginning in the Second World War and continuing into the postwar years.

The first unit of Chinooks arrived in Alban service in August 1944, assigned to 626 Squadron of the RAFA at Torakina Field in Bougainville. In the aircraft's first combat sortie, four Chinooks from 626 Squadron, led by CAPT Robert F. Vandeveld of Yakama, CL, shot down seven Thai fighter aircraft and two bombers, with no losses.

The arrival of the first Chinooks assisted in the neutralization of the Thai aerodrome at Rabaul. Through the remainder of 1944, Chinooks continued to steadily enter into service, replacing older Spitfires and Hurricanes on the front lines. Four additional squadrons were equipped with the Chinook by January 1945 and participated in the opening stages of the liberation of Nusantara. Aircraft stationed in New Guinea and northern Australia were key to suppressing Thai air cover en route to supporting the initial landings at Kencong and Batuulo.

Alban Chinooks based at forward airfields on Java were key to delivering air superiority over Nusantara, proving superior to even the most modern Thai aircraft flying at the time. Chinooks had a vital role in helping to suppress the Thai regime's use of air-dropped ChA.P.3 "Ba-Ba Bomb" tabun rockets: The speed of Thai B.Th.6 twin-engine attack aircraft often allowed them to approach rapidly and fire the Ba-Ba Bomb from range, but the speed of the Chinooks increased the odds of the transporting bomber being shot down. Chinooks also had the speed to potentially catch and shoot down the rocket before it could hit a ground target with its chemical payload.

During the last year of the war, the Chinook dominated the skies over Java, Bali and Sumba, racking up a kill-to-loss ratio of 15:1. While some of this can be attributed to the engineering excellence of the aircraft, it is also attributable to the general lack of training of late-war Thai aviators and the poor maintenance standards applied to the most advanced Thai aircraft available. The B.Kh.23 "Shark" fighter proved the closest Thai match to the Chinook, demonstrating high-altitude speed over 700 km/h and high maneuverability, but the aircraft rarely flew at peak capability and was often entrusted to young and poorly-trained pilots.

Chinooks were slated to form a core element of Tiger Force, the planned Allied invasion of Siam proper. These plans were scrapped following the Thai surrender.

Post-war, Chinooks served in four regular squadrons and a dozen reserve squadrons throughout Albion. RAFA Chinooks took part in the Second Nusantara War, but with jet fighters predominating that conflict, Chinooks were relegated to roles as high-speed ground attack platforms, photo reconnaissance aircraft and interdictors, though their long range enabled them to operate from airfields in Borneo during key phases of the war. They were largely superceded in frontline combat by the Avro Columbian and the CGA Sabre.

The Chinook was declared obsolete in 1956 and phased out of operational service, but some airframes remained in use in reserve units into the early 1960s.

Australia
Australia ordered 250 Chinooks late in the war to assist with liberation efforts in New Guinea and Sumatra. This order was scaled down somewhat with the end of the war, but RAAF Chinooks fought with distinction in the South Pacific before going on to serve during the Nusantara War, where they performed in roles similar to Albion's own Chinooks.

Burma
The Burmese Air Force acquired 94 surplus Chinooks upon gaining independence following the Second World War. These aircraft would form the centrepiece of the nascent Burmese air force in the postwar years as Burma sought to re-establish itself on the world stage. The aircraft were invaluable in rooting out ultra-nationalist cells that continued to operate in the hinterlands. As in Nusantara, Burma's air force was remarkable for operating the Chinook alongside its late-war rival, the B.Kh.23 Shark.

Netherlands
The Royal Netherlands Air Force received 120 surplus Chinooks following the Second World War. About 80 of these were assigned to the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (ML-KNIL) during the Dutch effort to reassert colonial rule in Nusantara.

ML-KNIL Chinooks took part in key actions against rebels in both Nusantara and Sumatra between 1946 and 1949. Upon the eventual Dutch withdrawal from Nusantara, many of these Chinooks were transferred to the Republic of Nusantara Air Force. The remainder served in reserve units in the Netherlands proper.

New Zealand
The Royal New Zealand Air Force operated four Chinook squadrons from February 1945, cancelling an order for an additional 96 Chinooks upon the end of the war. The existing squadrons remained operational until 1955, when they were prematurely retired following a series of mechanical problems with the intercooler mechanisms of some of the airframes.

Nusantara
The Republic of Nusantara Air Force inherited several Chinooks from the Netherlands upon decolonization and operated them against Sumatran aircraft during the Nusantara Wars of the early 1950s.

Pakistan
Pakistan operated six squadrons of former RAFA Chinooks following independence. Some of these aircraft were controversially involved in police actions in restive areas of Pakistan. The airframes were largely withdrawn by the early 1960s.

Specifications

 * Specifications for Chinook Mk. II.

General characteristics


 * Crew: 1
 * Length: ~37 ft
 * Wingspan: ~41 ft
 * Height: ~14 ft
 * Empty weight: ~10,500 lb
 * Gross weight: ~17,500 lb
 * Powerplant: 1 x Chrysler V-2220-5 16-cylinder inverted-V engine, 2,648 horsepower

Performance


 * Maximum speed: 753 km/h
 * Range: 1,920 km (longer with drop tanks)
 * Service ceiling: ~42,000 feet
 * Rate of climb: 4,950 ft/min

Armament


 * Guns: 4x 20mm Mark V Hispano cannons (2 per wing)
 * Wing brackets with provision for...
 * 2x 500-lb bombs or
 * 8x RP-3 rockets or
 * 2x 200l or 400l external fuel tanks