First flying on 27 May 1970, the Boeing Vertol 347 testbed was a modified CH-47A Chinook (aircraft 65-07992) used for Boeing's HLH (Heavy Lift Helicopter) program. The helicopter featured just over 9 foot extension of the forward fuselage cabin, a raised aft rotor pylon, four bladed rotors that were two feet longer than a standard Chinook blade, fly-by-wire controls and retractable landing gear.

But the most unique feature of the Model 347 was a variable-incidence wing that created extra lift to offload the main rotors. There was also a retractable gondola in the forward fuselage that had a full set of flying controls during flying crane operations. As the twin rotors no longer overlapped, some degree of noise reduction was also achieved. The Model 347's performance was greater than that of the standard Chinook, but flight testing ended in 1975 with the cancellation of the HLH program.

The BV-347 is currently on outdoor static display at the US Army Aviation Museum with sixty other aircraft at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Source: Air International, October 2009. "Fort Rucker- Home of Army Aviation" by Kees van der Mark and Arnaud Boxman, p80.

In 1975 the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) had just taken delivery of new streetcars from Boeing subsidiary Vertol. Though sleek and high-tech, the streetcars were maintenance nightmares that were not working as advertised and the MBTA was planning to sue Boeing. One Saturday morning, Robert Kiley, the chair and CEO of the MBTA, was alone working in his office when he was called downstairs as he had a visitor. Arriving alone, was Boeing CEO Thornton "T.A." Wilson.

Kiley took Wilson up to his office and Wilson offered to do whatever it took to restore Boeing's good name with the MBTA as he told Kiley he felt Boeing should not have strayed into businesses it didn't know as well when it acquired Vertol in 1960. T.A. Wilson offered to do whatever it took to fix the streetcars and if they failed to do so to the MBTA's satisfaction, Boeing would repay the MBTA's entire investment in the project- about $45 million in 1970-dollars.

In the end, the streetcars couldn't be made to work and Boeing repaid the MBTA its full investment in the project.

Source: Boeing Versus Airbus-The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business by John Newhouse. Alfred A. Knopf Books, 2007, p5-6.