There is a very interesting post over on Iain Dale’s site which apparently comes from an RAF insider detailing the real levels of helicopter availability.

He doesn’t, however, include this gem of a fact. One of the few Chinooks that we have has been in service since 2003 but things are not quite what they seem.

For it is a ‘chop-shop’ job. The front is a from a British Chinook which crashed in Oman in 1999 when it’s rear rotor blades hit the ground on take-off and ripped off the rear of the helicopter. The “new” rear comes from a captured Argentinian Chinook taken during the June 1982 re-capture of the Falkland Islands.

Much as cannibalism for spare parts is common in all areas of the Forces and just about every other industry in the world too, this one is pushing the envelope a bit for scariness.

Source: Daily Mail