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A great part of the landing sites had been flooded by the Germans. The advantage of using these big choppers is that these flooding would have been quickly discovered, and the landing diverted to other sites, hence avoiding the many troops casualties and loss of materiel in the swamps.This scenario is similar to that in The Final Countdown.
A storm passes over a US army base in Vietnam, and transports 200 CH-47s and their crews back to mid May 1944.
How would you use these for the D-Day invasion, a few weeks later?
Would you use them like C-47s and drop paratroopers from altitude?
Would you transport paratroopers, but land them on the ground?
Would you use them to transport equipment for use on D-Day?
C-47 top speed 224mph, service ceiling 26,400ft.
CH-47 top speed 195mph, service ceiling 20,000ft.
The CH-47's combat radius was much smaller than the C-47s, but at 230 miles that should be sufficient.
C-47 could take ~20 paratroopers.
CH-47 could take ~40, or up to 55 regular troops.
How would CH-47s fare with the German AAA defences? Would they be sitting ducks?
Would the CH-47s be held back until a few days after D-Day, after the beachhead has been established, and used for resupply?
One thing occurred to me is maintenance. How many hours could the CH-47s operate before needing work?
Their ability to "get down in the weeds" would have provided better survivability than the gliders, which were committed to a glide path at a snail's pace, making them easy pickings for AA.CH-47 Chinooks would not survive the D-Day beaches. Too much anti-aircraft fire. They would have to be limited to night time operations. And at night they would best be used for point to point troop movements and air assault.
Their ability to "get down in the weeds" would have provided better survivability than the gliders, which were committed to a glide path at a snail's pace, making them easy pickings for AA.
Same could be said for the paratroopers, where not only did they get picked off by AA, but small arms fire, too.
CH-47 Chinooks would not survive the D-Day beaches. Too much anti-aircraft fire. They would have to be limited to night time operations. And at night they would best be used for point to point troop movements and air assault.
Agreed, but there is still a reason that the Chinooks in Iraq were restricted to night operations while the Black Hawks and Apaches conducted day and night ops.
If you run a dozen CVE's into the Channel can't you make multiple flights during the night? Gliders were a one and done affair/C-47s have to go all the way back to an airstrip, but the WWII equivalent of an amphibious assault carrier a little ways off the coast would increase your lift substantially. Then convert the Skytrains into AC-47s - your Chinook crews should be aware of them.My original thought was that they would replace C-47s and Gliders in landing troops behind the landing beaches the night before the invasion.
I had thought to replace all C-47s/paratroopers with CH-47s, but there weren't enough CH-47s built to do that.
As to point to point air movements and assault, I would imagine that the CH-47 could place troops much closer to their objective - for example, unloading troops on a road a few miles from a bridge that needs securing.
I would imagine that in the absence of high-tech AA during WWII, the Hook would have a better chance than it would have in modern times.Agreed, but there is still a reason that the Chinooks in Iraq were restricted to night operations while the Black Hawks and Apaches conducted day and night ops.
I would imagine that in the absence of high-tech AA during WWII, the Hook would have a better chance than it would have in modern times.
This is not to say that it would be invincible, but much more survivable.
Especially if it just thumped along over the treetops and the Germans seeing it for the first time, would have no idea WTF it was!