A Royal Canadian Air Force Chinook CH-147F takes off Thursday afternoon from the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

The Royal Canadian Air Force 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron has been conducting training exercises this week over the White Mountain National Forest in Maine and New Hampshire. As part of that training, the RCAF has based two Chinook CH-147F helicopters at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn. RCAF Maj. Dom Simard said the White Mountains offer the highest elevation closest to Petawawa, Ontario, where the Boeing-built Chinooks are based. “There is quite a bit of above-treeline mountains,” Simard said, adding that pilots and crews have been practicing mountaintop landings. “The process is much different than landing in a farmer’s field.” Simard said the flight home takes three hours and can be done on one tank of fuel. He said the main difference between the Royal Canadian Air Force Chinooks and Chinooks used by American forces is the size of the fuel tank. The RCAF has opted for larger tanks to allow flying in remote regions of northern Canada. The second RCAF CH-147F will stay in Auburn through Easter weekend. A crew is scheduled to fly in next week to make repairs to the Chinook before flying it back to Canada. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

A Royal Canadian Air Force crew member enters the back of the Chinook CH-147F helicopter Thursday while communicating with the pilot through hard wire. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

A Royal Canadian Air Force Chinook CH-147F takes off Thursday afternoon from the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)