Italeri 1/72nd ACH-47A Gunship By Dave Flitton

History

Originally designated the 53rd Aviation Detachment, and nicknamed "Guns-A-Go-Go" or "Go-Go Birds", this "test" unit of three Armed/Armored CH-47 Chinooks (#64-13149 nicknamed "EASY MONEY", #64-13151 nicknamed "STUMP JUMPER", and #64-13154 nicknamed "BIRTH CONTROL" (*the first A/ACH-47A built, #64-13145 remained in the states for further testing at Edwards AFB*) were deployed TDY for six months to Vietnam, 3 months at Vung Tau, and three months at An Khe. During their evaluation period, the ACH-47's destroyed every assigned target they engaged.

It was during this evaluation, on 05 Aug 66, that "Stump Jumper" was involved in a freak accident involving a ground collision with another Chinook at Vung Tau Airfield, and was completely destroyed. After this, the testing on #145 was halted rather suddenly, and she began the long journey to Southeast Asia and became known as "CO$T of LIVING".

Unfortunately, on the 5th of May 1967, while participating in action near Bong Son, "CO$T of LIVING" was lost when one of her M-24A 20mm cannon forward mounting pins vibrated loose during a gun run, permitting the weapon to rotate upward and firing into the forward rotor system. The blades quickly separated from the aircraft, causing it to tumble out of control to the ground. All eight crewmembers perished.

The two remaining ACH-47's continued to operate through the rest of the year, participating in numerous missions and proving valuable assets to field commanders.

Then on February 22nd, 1968, while participating in the big push to recapture Hue during the Tet Offensive, "Birth Control" received some bad hits while pulling up from a gun-run, and had to auto-rotate into the dry rice paddies about 600 meters NW of the Citadel walls. Under intense fire, "Easy Money" came in and positioned herself between "Birth Control" and the oncoming enemy, suppressing fire while rescuing the downed crewmembers. As "Easy Money" was struggling to get airborne from all the extra weight, she received several hits which wounded some of the crewmembers near the back of the ship, but made it safely out to Camp Evans. Before an aircraft recovery could be attempted, the report came in that the NVA had walked mortars up to "Birth Control", completely destroying her where she sat. Upon receiving the news, crewmember Walt Lacy responded: "She went out proud."

Since the Army would not allow the ACH-47 to operate alone, plus the fact that lift helicopters were badly needed in the field, the program was cancelled, and "Easy Money" was transferred back to Vung Tau, where she served as a maintenance trainer with the in-country Boeing Facility until the end of the war when she was transferred back to the States.

"Easy Money" went from New Cumberland to Savanna Army Depot, where Boeing evaluated it for possible upgrade to replace B-8, the aircraft that became the D-model modernization prototype. Unfortunately, the airframe was too corroded for this purpose, so it was given to Ft. Eustis, where it served as a sheet metal trainer. "Easy Money" has since been rescued from the scrap yard, and has been lovingly restored. The last of the "Go-Go Birds" is now on display at Redstone Arsenal.

The Kit

Inside the box you will find three sprues, two OD green, and one clear. I received mine with a few parts rolling around including one of the fuselage halves. This gave me the opportunity to show you both the outside and the inside of the fuselage. The moldings are crisp and hardly any flash. It seems to be a rehash of their standard CH-47A kit, which is fine except that the ACH-47A had extra armor and the pilot and co-pilot seats were re-designed to add swinging armor pieces for added protection. Internal detail is limited, no ammunition trays nor much internal structure are provided and the .50 cal machine guns look like the old .30 cal that WWII troops would be seen lugging around. I suggest getting three packs of Aeroclub's .50 cal flexi-guns as replacements. While you're at it, get Eduard's photo-etch set as well. This will fill in the vacuous cargo space that was usually crowded with ammunition trays and spare equipment.

The canopy sprue looks crystal clear with more of the typical crisp Italeri detail.

The decal sheet is in perfect register but it only provides markings for two ships, One is "Easy Money", and only in her early 1966 guise of all white nose art. The other is "CO$T of LIVING" as she appeared during stateside tests before being rushed to Viet Nam.

The box top shows an artist conception of an ACH-47A in flight but also shows a number of inaccuracies. In the real aircraft there should be no webbing showing in the windows, this was not a cargo aircraft, but a gunship that had no extra room for seats. There are too many windows on the side of the ship, one of the windows was painted over (the one with the yellow corners) once they arrived in the combat zone.

Conclusions

This is a really good buy for those wanting to complete their collection of Viet Nam era helicopters. The moldings are crisp and the decals are in perfect register. This looks to be an easy build. The downsides are that the internal detail is wanting and more choices for the final markings would be welcome. Get the Eduard set to fill in the important details and go to www.gunsagogo.org for some impressive pictures and insights of this impressive aircraft. Once you add your own details this will be turned into an impressive model.

My thanks go to Testors and Internet Modeler for this review sample.