Produced by Boeing’s Vertol Division (most likely in the late 1960s), Hovering Angel is a short film that promotes the humanitarian contributions made using Sea Knight CH-46s and Chinook CH-47s. The film opens with a scene of a Sea Knight CH-46 rescuing a pilot from water (00:18). Aircraft carrier crewmen refer to escorting helicopters on rescue missions as “angels,” thus the title of the film. In 1966, deep snows strand boy scouts at Horseshoe Bend Camp in Rising Sun, Maryland (01:10). Responding to the distress call, Boeing Vertol sends in a Chinook CH-47 to rescue Troop 43 (02:03), safely evacuating the group to West Chester, Pennsylvania. Good Samaritan operations involving the helicopters occur outside of the U.S. as well. The U.S. Marine Corps Civic Action Program (03:14) helps people in Vietnam (02:55). Marine Corps Major General Keith Barr McCutcheon presides over a meeting (03:28). McCutcheon, the commanding general of the First Marine Aircraft Wing, discusses how there is a war for the people of Vietnam, and that civic operations with helicopter support assist local communities, encouraging the Vietnamese to view the U.S. as a force for good. This objective is accomplished through various activities and operations: music (04:40), medical/health initiatives, education, and public works. Major General Harry Kinnard and South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Ky (05:23) observe the Civic Program, and General Kinnard discusses the purpose of the program and the importance of the helicopters (05:46). Helicopters are used to evacuate villages and transport the new refugees to safe locations (07:03). A Sea Knight CH-46 flies over Vietnam and brings food to the refugee village of Tam-cu (08:17). The helicopters allow the Marines to assist refugees until they can be resettled. Boeing-built helicopters play a significant part in this program, helping to ease the suffering of Vietnamese refugees, including children (09:33).
The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft aircraft engines designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol’s acquisition by Boeing.
Development of the Sea Knight, which was originally designated by the firm as the Vertol Model 107, commenced during 1956. It was envisioned as a successor to the first generation of rotorcraft, such as the H-21 “Flying Banana”, that had been powered by piston engines; in its place, the V-107 made use of the emergent turboshaft engine. On 22 April 1958, the V-107 prototype performed its maiden flight. During June 1958, the U.S. Army awarded a contract for the construction of ten production-standard aircraft, designated as the YHC-1A, based on the V-107; this initial order was later cut down to three YHC-1As though. During 1961, the U.S. Marine Corps, who had been studying its requirements for a medium-lift, twin-turbine troop/cargo assault helicopter, selected Boeing Vertol’s model 107M as the basis from which to manufacture a suitable rotorcraft to meet their needs. Known colloquially as the “Phrog” and formally as the “Sea Knight”, it was operated across all U.S. Marine Corps’ operational environments between its introduction during the Vietnam War and its frontline retirement during 2014.
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