CH-21C Shawnee

The CH-21 Shawnee entered service in 1950 through the Plasecki Helicopter Corporation. The Army purchased 334 CH-21Cs and sixteen additional CH-21Bs from the Air Force. As a multipurpose helicopter, it could carry twenty troops or 2,300 pounds of cargo, and it became the Army's workhorse during the early years of the Vietnam War. The CH-21C served as the main transport helicopter with the 57th Transportation Company, one of the first American units to serve in Vietnam from 1961 to 1963. On August 24, 1954, aided by in-flight refueling from a U.S. Army U-1A Otter, a CH-21C called Amblin' Annie became the first helicopter to cross the United States nonstop. The Shawnee remained in service until 1964, when the UH-1 Huey and CH-47 Chinook replaced it, and by 1965 most CH-21 helicopters had been withdrawn from active inventory in the U.S. Army and Air Force. This aircraft served with the 57th Transportation Company in Vietnam, later arrived at Fort Eustis, remained in service there until 1967, and was then turned over to the U.S. Army Transportation Museum.

Newport News, Virginia · United States