Black Chinook?

My guess is that these may have been ANG Chinooks..The USMC does not operate Chinooks.. I'm pretty certain that in the US Armed forces only the Army operates them.
I saw two 160th Chinooks at Little Creek Va. doing training with SEALs there last year. They were painted Helo Drab which is dark and very Flat. The finish appears black from a distance.. I was surprised by the poor appearence of these Birds.. Paint was faded and various shades of OD and DK grey were showing through top coat..
Hope this Helps

It's possible they may have been -46s. I go to Charleston all the time and I see a lot of C-17s (naturally), F/A-18s, F-16s, Dolphins and on occasion I've seen a SAR HH-46s. They're finished in overall gloss dark engine gray (gloss version of the dark gray in A-10s Euro 1). However, I think the Army flies Chinooks out of Savannah which is also very close by. Every once in a while I'll see one here and even though I can tell it's not an MH-47, it still appears very dark.

Did you get in any golf while you were in Beaufort? Every water hazard has it's own gator! Makes the game a whole lot more interesting!

They might be those sneaky UN helicopters that the militia guys are worried about, be careful.......

Yeah, I keep hearing things about black helicopters and conspiricies, hmmmmm..........
Lee

No no no... The so-called "black helicoptors" are just a distraction from the real threat man! Those Russian helicoptors that are used for "training" in Alabama and out west? The German Tornados? Singapore F-16s? UN Humvees spotted at a port in Texas (suuuure, they were "leaving for Bosnia"). It's the New World Order man! Saddam Hussein isn't real! The UN came up with him to wave a sword when they needed to distract us! He's just some dude they found doing dinner theater out in Utah. His name is Earl McKinney (I hear he does a great "The King and I")

(Just kidding)
Trust me, the only conspirices going on in SC Low Country are which bar has the best drinks and the hottest women.

b6dan,
There are always exceptions of course .. but the general rule is ...
Regular US Army helicopters are Helo Drab (that's a Model Master paint name). This is a very .. very dark green. When the paint is new you would swear it's black ... but look at the "United States Army" markings and you can see the difference. This paint reflects little light and that makes it look even more black ... this is probably due to the microscopic spheres in the paint that helps reduce the IR and radar signatures. Most Special Ops Army helicopters are flat black with Olive Drab markings. The Flat Black fades at different rates .. just like the Helo Drab and you have a wide range of tones on all but the most newly painted aircraft. Any aircraft that's been deployed to Afganistan or Iraq especially shows the effects of the elements. Hope that helps..
Paul

Or it could just be a Black chinook that you saw.

Thanks guys! I normally stick to the Aircraft forum, so I'm not so good with my "whirlybirds". And when I was in SC, I was on Fripp Island with family. (Yes, there ARE gators! BIG ones!)

b6dan... heres some links to pics of chinooks that could explain why they look "black" as well as a cool pic of a unique camo job... pretty cool stuff
http://airliners.net/open.file?id=461561&WxsIERv=Qm9laW5nIFZlcnRvbCBDSC00N0QgQ2hpbm9vaw%3D%3D&WdsYXMg=VVNBIC0gQXJteQ%3D%3D&QtODMg=UHVlYmxvIC0gTWVtb3JpYWwgKFBVQiAvIEtQVUIp&ERDLTkt=VVNBIC0gQ29sb3JhZG8%3D&ktODMp=Tm92ZW1iZXIgMTksIDIwMDM%3D&BP=0&WNEb25u=SmVmZiBNaWxsZXI%3D&xsIERvdWdsY=MTY0&MgTUQtODMgKE=Tm90IHByZXR0eS4%3D&YXMgTUQtODMgKERD=ODM4&NEb25uZWxs=MjAwMy0xMS0yMA%3D%3D&ODJ9dvCE=&O89Dcjdg=&static=yes&size=L
http://airliners.net/open.file?id=302324&WxsIERv=Qm9laW5nIENoaW5vb2sgSEMx&WdsYXMg=VUsgLSBBaXIgRm9yY2U%3D&QtODMg=TWlsZGVuaGFsbCAoTUhaIC8gR1hIIC8gRUdVTik%3D&ERDLTkt=VUsgLSBFbmdsYW5k&ktODMp=MTk5NA%3D%3D&BP=0&WNEb25u=QiBjb25kb24%3D&xsIERvdWdsY=WkE3MDc%3D&MgTUQtODMgKE=R3VsZiBXYXIgMSBTcGVjaWFsIEZvcmNlcyBNYXJraW5ncw%3D%3D&YXMgTUQtODMgKERD=MTg3Mg%3D%3D&NEb25uZWxs=MjAwMi0xMi0xNQ%3D%3D&ODJ9dvCE=&O89Dcjdg=&static=yes&size=L

Wow that second one looks like a little kid attacked it with a paintbrush... The military should really put an age limit on crew chiefs!!