PHIRST PHLEET PHLIGHT OF THE PHINAL PHROG by LtCol Larry W. Britton, USMC (Ret)
While watching the coverage of the Iraqi War, particularly reports on the Marines and seeing ‘46s in action, I was reminded of a significant flight I took in a CH-46F some thirty-two years ago.
I was a Captain assigned to HMM-264 at New River, NC. My job assignment at the time was that of Aircraft Maintenance Officer. We had received notification that a new CH-46F was ready for pick-up from the Boeing-Vertol factory in Philadelphia, and I had been scheduled to take delivery of the airplane.
Accompanied by my crew, consisting of a co-pilot and my trusty Quality Assurance Chief, a gunnery sergeant, we were flown to Philadelphia and dropped off. As the aircraft was being prepared for our pre-flight inspection, I was informed by the Boeing-Vertol people that this was the last new CH-46 off the assembly line. It bore the manufacturing sequence number 427 and BuNo. 157726. It was the Final Frog!
Following the pre-flight/QA inspection, the factory people worked off those Safety of Flight discrepancies that had been identified by the crew. Once the work had been satisfactorily completed, CH-46F, BuNo. 157726 was formally accepted by the Marine Corps. It was launched from the Boeing-Vertol factory thirty-two years ago on 18 March 1971, on its first flight as a member of the Fleet Marine Forces to its new home with HMM-264, MAG-26, MCAS New River, NC. The date of that first flight is particularly significant to me as it was my twenty-eighth birthday. When we arrived at New River after an uneventful flight, the base paper, “The Rotorview”, ran a picture and article on the delivery of “The Phinal Phrog”.
A CH-46E of HMM-264.
157726 had specially configured wiring to accept IHAS and SCNS. IHAS was an Integrated Helicopter Avionics System while SCNS was a Self-Contained Navigation System. These two systems had been developed for the ’46, but apparently had never been put into production. Because of this unique configuration, the bird was ordered to be transferred to HMX-1 at Quantico. I assume it was to be used as the test bed for the evaluation of IHAS and SCNS. Following its transfer to HMX, I lost track of the Phinal Phrog. I can only hope it is one of the less than 200 ‘46s still in service today.
During my nearly 23 years of active duty, I logged nearly 3,000 hours in the ’46 and came to know it as an extremely capable and rugged airplane. I credit my successful completion of several missions in Vietnam to the ruggedness of the airplane in spite of the ham-handedness of the young Lieutenant at the controls. Seeing the ’46 still serving the Marine Corps in Iraq today, I can only add my endorsement to the bumper sticker produced by Boeing a few years ago, which read. “Phrogs Phorever. Never trust a helicopter under thirty.”
(Ed: I asked LtCol Britton if there was, in fact, really an "F" model of the CH-46 and this was his response. "Yes, it was a CH-46F. The F model had only minor engineering changes from the D model. The only change I can recall was in the gyro compass system. It still had the GE T-58-10 engines. The GE T-58-16 engines didn't come along until the E model. I don't know why the series went A, D, F, and E. Maybe NAVAIR can shed some light on this?")
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