MH-47G Chinook

The Chinook Update

I’m sorry to say that we’re all out of the Forces of Valor 1:72 scale MH-47G Chinook helicopter. Of course, it didn’t help that we were short-changed, receiving one case of a Japanese CH-47JA instead of the MH-47G we were counting on. We decided to keep it instead of returning it and have listed it on our web site. Typically, the Far Eastern liveries of US-built equipment (Japanese, Taiwanese, Singapore, Korean, etc.) don’t sell as well as models based upon machines designed for the primary user nation. However, seeing as how well all of the previous Chinooks have sold, we decided we could be making a mistake by rejecting it out-of-hand. Be that as it may, we are expecting a follow-on shipment probably towards the middle of December but this could change based upon all manner of issues. We highly doubt that we will be able to turn around all of the helicopter models in the follow-on shipment as soon as they come in and have them arrive at their appointed destinations in time for Christmas. More likely, they will arrive some time thereafter, perhaps as late as the New Year, if the shipping carriers run into problems getting all of their Christmas deliveries out and on time. My gut instinct is to say they are going to get slammed for the holidays, so I’ll err on the side of caution and say that the second wave will more than likely arrive at their final destinations the first week of January.

I know a great many of you have been waiting for a long time for this model, and more orders were placed once word got out that the helo arrived over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. On the plus side, I think there’s a good chance that the manufacturer is quite content with its sales and will more than likely offer a larger scale version of it sometime down the road seeing as how several 1:48 scale helicopters are expected in early 2021.

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The Forces of Valor Update: We Own the Night

Forces of Valor’s 1:72 scale US Army Boeing-Vertol MH-47G Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopter – 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Night Stalkers”, 2014

According to our distributor, the Forces of Valor MH-47G Chinook helicopter, which is famously operated by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Night Stalkers”, is en route and expected by the end of October. This is a significant announcement because we have quite a few pre-orders to fill as soon as they arrive and won’t have all that many left available for general sale once the pre-orders have been filled. However, we also wanted to point out that the manufacturer has decided to revise the tooling by moving the front set of landing wheels a bit further forward under the fuselage as one savvy collector pointed out on an aviation forum. While we applaud the manufacturer’s decision to revise the mold and bear the cost of making these changes it does create a bit of a lag in the supply chain. According to the manufacturer, they are sold out of the original helicopter model and have begun retooling the mold to address this modification. As a result, a second batch of models sporting this tooling change is not expected before the holidays and could likely make its way back into the distribution network as late as February. So, if you prefer to wait for the second version of the model, we will need to hear from you as soon as possible otherwise we will assume that the initial version is okay with you.

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Product Spotlight: Still Silent Sentinels

Forces of Valor’s 1:72 scale US Army Boeing-Vertol MH-47G Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopter – 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Night Stalkers”, 2014

The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), abbreviated as 160th SOAR (A), is a special operations force of the United States Army that provides helicopter aviation support for general purpose forces and special operations forces. Its missions have included attack, assault, and reconnaissance, and these missions are usually conducted at night, at high speeds, low altitudes, and on short notice.

Nicknamed the “Night Stalkers” and called Task Force Brown within the JSOC, the 160th SOAR(A) is headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

On January 15th, 2014, a MH-60M Black Hawk of the 160th performed a hard landing at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia. One soldier, CPT Clayton Carpenter of NY (posthumously promoted to MAJ), was killed with another two injured. On July 4th, 2014, during Operation Inherent Resolve, the Night Stalkers inserted Delta Force operators into Syria to rescue James Foley and other US hostages. One American was wounded, no hostages were found, but a substantial number of terrorists were killed. CENTCOM mistakenly posted a video on the internet of a flight of four MH-60Ms of the 160th SOAR conducting a mid-air refueling over Iraq in October 2014, the video was hastily taken down. On November 26th, 2014, MH-60s flown by the “Night Stalkers” took part in the first raid in the 2014 hostage rescue operation in Yemen.

The “Night Stalkers” continue to be deployed to Afghanistan as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission after Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan ended in late 2014 and was replaced with Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Throughout that night of December 5th, 2015, a group of Rangers engaged in a firefight with enemy troops near the Afghan-Pakistan border; after about 5 a.m. their commander called for an extraction after they learned of a larger enemy group approaching. A helicopter from the 160th SOAR arrived and began receiving heavy fire from the enemy, with an AH-64 Apache helicopter from the 1st Battalion 101st Aviation Regiment escorting the helicopter, put their Apache directly between the U.S. troops, the helicopter and the enemy forces to draw the fire. As a result, the extraction was a success.

Forces of Valor’s rendition of a MH-47G as it was operated by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Night Stalker” lifts off this autumn. Update: We’ve had quite a few inquiries as to the exact color being applied to the exterior of this particular helicopter. According to the manufacturer, the specific color being used is called Helo-drab. Essentially, it is a very dark olive drab color that, when viewed under daylight conditions, appears grey. Under nighttime conditions, however, the same color looks like a very deep green and is intended to help camouflage the aircraft while in flight. Moreover, a sandy weathering effect was applied to the lower fuselage of the MH-47G to give it a more weather beaten look. Lastly, a rear-mounted M60 machine gun was affixed to the ramp that is intended to provide the crew with suppressive fire capability against ground targets.

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