Chinook mechanic’s career gets off the ground
Even when Ed Blantz maintained CH-47 Chinook helicopters on the ground, he wanted to spend his career in the air. There was just one problem.
“Aircraft electricians don’t fly,” he said. “But flight engineers do.”
Blantz went back to school. Today he’s sure it’s the best decision he ever made.
Blantz said he “got the itch to fly” for a career after taking his first helicopter ride.
Then a CH-47 electrician with the U.S. Army National Guard, he trained and qualified as a Chinook mechanic and, in 1990, as a Chinook flight engineer. In the time since, he has flown throughout the world on Chinooks — first for the Guard and now for Boeing.
“As a flight engineer, you’re assigned to one aircraft, and it’s your baby,” said Blantz, a CH-47 flight engineer and instructor with Boeing Test & Evaluation. “It’s all about being part of a team to keep the aircraft operating safely and efficiently.”
He has tended to Chinooks for several decades, maintaining and crewing A, C and D models with the Guard. After joining Boeing in 1997, he helped develop the Block II F and G models, as well as numerous Chinook models used by allies around the globe.
Through his Chinook career he has accumulated more than 5,000 accident-free flight-hours, numerous military honors and one aircrew record.
The CH-47 wouldn’t be what it is today without Blantz, according to a longtime colleague, who emphasized how much Blantz cares about the CH-47 and the people who fly it.
“Ed is an oracle of knowledge,” said Benjamin Lewis, a Boeing test pilot based in the United Kingdom. “He’s extremely well respected by the aviator community. Operators listen to him, and as a result, he has been critical in shaping the evolution of the Chinook over many years.”
Lewis was still serving in the U.K. armed forces when he started flying with Blantz 12 years ago. For the past eight years they’ve flown experimental test flights together as Boeing teammates.
“Ed’s experience, knowledge and sense of calm provides a truly reassuring presence within the aircraft,” Lewis said. “If I could choose one flight engineer to fly with, Ed would be at the top of the list every time.”
