BALAD, Iraq -- The Chinook's twin rotors grow louder as the helicopter nears a landing zone near an anonymous Iraqi canal that may or may not have attackers waiting nearby.

This early Thursday morning, infantry troops are crammed in the helicopter with full gear, about a third of them on the floor in order to squeeze as many as possible into the tube-shaped cargo hold.

"10 … 9 … 8 …" a crewmember calls out over the intercom as the helicopter drops its last few feet, hitting the field with a thud barely heard over the rotors.

The back ramp drops, and the foot soldiers plod into the pitch-black landscape, all 40 or 50 of them.

This ability to land so many troops at once is making the Chinook an increasingly popular helicopter for air assaults, according to soldiers with Company B, 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, the unit that flew Thursday's mission.

"That's everything we've been doing," said Sgt. Christopher Raby, a 25-year-old flight engineer from Paducah, Ky.

Chinooks have always done air assaults. Pilots in training drop off Ranger candidates during one of the school's phases. Yet crews from "Big Windy" -- as the Katterbach-based company is called -- say that such missions were rarer in the past because many people viewed the aircraft as simply unsuited for air assaults.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 James Cameron, a 33-year-old Salt Lake City native, said he was told in flight school that he was lucky to be a Chinook pilot since he'd always be behind the front lines.

That perception started to change with the invasion of Afghanistan, said 1st Sgt. Philip Paniagua, 36, a San Antonio native. The country's high elevations forced the Army to rely on Chinooks instead of the less powerful Black Hawks that are the very symbol of air assault in so many minds.

With the Chinook seeing more air assaults in Afghanistan, commanders started to see that it had some advantages over the Black Hawk, namely the ability to drop off a huge amount of fighting power in one swoop.

A Black Hawk, for example, can carry a 12-man infantry squad. A Chinook can carry upwards of 50 people -- essentially a fully equipped platoon with supporting assets such as mortars, said Staff Sgt. Paul Zayas, a flight engineer. And unlike the Black Hawk, space -- not weight -- is what keeps the Chinook from carrying more people. So it has power to spare even when fully loaded.

"Size does matter," said Staff Sgt. Jesse Wandling, a flight engineer, repeating a favorite saying among Chinook crews.

It turns out the Chinook is no slouch at moving around the battlefield either, despite its size. Big Windy's pilots regularly squeeze into landing zones wedged between power lines, canals and other obstacles.

"You're taking the infantry right onto the doorsteps of these small towns," said Capt. Adam Samiof, a 25-year-old Chinook pilot from Albany, N.Y., with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade in Taji.

These capabilities don't come without an operating price. Big Windy crews like to joke that "at $5,000 per hour, we're the highest paid hookers in the world."

But, said Zayas, "It's faster and very agile. All the Chinook is is power and space. With that being said, it can take a lot of punishment."

Big Windy had one three-week period when they first arrived in Iraq during which four or five aircraft were hit by enemy fire. Two of the pilots have photos hanging in their command post of them flexing their biceps next to a 10-inch gash where a 7.62 round tore into their helicopter.

"Did you get yours yet?" one photo reads.

"I got mine!" reads the other.

Pfc. Noel Guzman, a 23-year-old door gunner from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, had one of the closest calls in his unit. A bullet sailed through the floor and past his legs during one air assault mission. His wife now keeps the bullet as a memento.

Yet, Guzman still prefers air assaults to the general cargo missions for which Chinooks are better known. Cargo missions are important, he acknowledged, but air assaults make Guzman feel like he's having more of a direct effect on the war.

"It's just a rush," he said. "When you see all those guys getting out, you know they're doing some good."