Nelly

Image of 'Nellie' the centenary Chinook flying with 27 Squadron this year.

The Boeing Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A series of variants based on the United States Army's Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the RAF Chinook fleet is the largest outside the United States. RAF Chinooks have seen extensive service including fighting in the Falklands War, peace-keeping commitments in the Balkans, and action in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The Chinook aircraft, normally based at RAF Odiham, provides heavy-lift support and transport across all branches of the British armed forces, and is supported by the smaller, medium-lift helicopters such as the AgustaWestland Merlin HC.3 of the Royal Navy's Commando Helicopter Force and the RAF's Westland Puma HC.2, based at RNAS Yeovilton and RAF Benson.