# What helicopter did I see today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876 "2019-02-20T04:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/1 "2019-02-20T04:04:11Z")
More specifically, whose? As I was getting the mail and talking to our postal person today, a CH-47 Chinook flew overhead, quite loudly. I could ID the type instantly, but the color scheme threw me. It was painted white in the front, black in the rear, with a broad red stripe running _bend dexter_ separating the two. All the paint was bright enamel, not muted at all. Sucker looked showroom. Definitely not a usual paint job. Any ideas? Marine Corps Recruiting? Coast Guard? WCTU? This was SoCal, so the flight path was generally westwards through the San Jacinto Pass. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/2 "2019-02-20T04:50:14Z")
[Knights Templar?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar) You’re sure it was white/red/black? If it was red/white/black, that’d be Saudi Arabia. ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/3 "2019-02-20T04:53:20Z")
If you swapped up the colors in your description slightly I’d say this one, which they just recently aquired. They are based out of mclellan [http://helimaxaviation.com.s200177.gridserver.com/fleet/](http://helimaxaviation.com.s200177.gridserver.com/fleet/) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/4 "2019-02-20T06:09:35Z")
I don’t know the particular color scheme but the red white and black Is pretty common for helicopters used for fighting fires. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/5 "2019-02-20T07:43:05Z")
Columbia Helicopters? > **[Columbia Helicopters Completes Successful Firefighting Season Using Two...](https://www.colheli.com/columbia-helicopters-completes-successful-firefighting-season-using-two-2800-gallon-internal-fire-attack-systems-fas-one-ch-47d-display-heli-expo/)** > > DALLAS – March 5, 2017 – With a lengthy and very destructive firefighting season under their belts, Columbia Helicopters has credited part of its overall success to its two Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopters that were equipped with the world’s largest... ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/6 "2019-02-20T08:29:17Z")
Other option of civilian CH-47s with a White+Black+Red livery : [Helimax](http://helimaxaviation.com/fleet/) (part of [CHI](http://chiaviation.com/fleet/) Aviation) based in Sacramento ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/7 "2019-02-20T13:19:16Z")
Nothing clicks so far. The helicopter was low enough that I am sure of the paint scheme. Front half - white. Back half - black. Big ass diagonal red stripe separating the two. The scheme was front/back, not top/bottom. That’s what threw me. I’d never seen anything like that on a chopper before. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/8 "2019-02-20T13:48:43Z")
It could also have been a Chinook with a temp or unfinished paint scheme. The Helimax chinooks [looked like this](https://fireaviation.com/2015/12/21/internal-tank-being-developed-for-chinook/)when they first got them. One other possibility closer to that colour scheme (white front, red diagonal, black back) is [PJ Helicopters](https://www.verticalmag.com/features/making-sense-of-restricted-category/), but they don’t list a Chinook (or any other tandem that could be mistaken for one) in their fleet. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/9 "2019-02-20T16:15:50Z")
Heligroup Fire, LLC operates Chinook for firefighting operations in Cali. They run a Red/White/Black color scheme. Might be theirs. Google tail number N947CH to see an example (same color, different pattern, but maybe they switch it up or repainted?). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/10 "2019-02-20T16:19:43Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I don’t know the particular color scheme but the red white and black Is pretty common for helicopters used for fighting fires. Is there any particular reason for this? Red is traditional, of course. High contrast elements for visibility? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/11 "2019-02-20T21:18:48Z")
I cut a lot of wood with Columbia Helicopters, the flew the smaller Vertols (C-46 Sea Knight?). Anyone who saw it would call it a Chinook. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/12 "2019-02-21T02:29:53Z")
Not the correct order, but the LA Fire Department uses white/black/red in what sounds like the style you’re talking about. I didn’t find a picture of an actual CH-47; maybe they switched the colors for the new aircraft? [https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lafd+ch47&chips=q:lafd+ch47,online\_chips:lafd+helicopter&usg=AI4\_-kR-HjPdQ8VcM6HxoiGbjKih3hT9Yw&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUzZfZ4svgAhUJCKwKHTzhDOwQ4lYIMCgJ&biw=1862&bih=812&dpr=0.75#imgrc=IaRnEG-cv76XlM:](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=lafd+ch47&chips=q:lafd+ch47,online_chips:lafd+helicopter&usg=AI4_-kR-HjPdQ8VcM6HxoiGbjKih3hT9Yw&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUzZfZ4svgAhUJCKwKHTzhDOwQ4lYIMCgJ&biw=1862&bih=812&dpr=0.75#imgrc=IaRnEG-cv76XlM:) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-did-i-see-today/829876/13 "2019-02-21T03:43:49Z")
Now we’re getting somewhere! That was the paint scheme, but with the red and black reversed.