Whats up,
I’m a noob to blender and have decidied to make a model of a chinook helicopter. I have the basic outline of the side seen in the link below, I just dont know what to do next to tie it to the top and front. 
http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chinookdn0.jpg
Interesting way to start modeling. Before you go any further, you need to resize your top view. The mesh you’ve built in the side view should stretch from nose to tail in both views, and it doesn’t look like it does. So, in the background image panel, use the size parameter to shrink the background image in that window until the mesh goes from nose to tail (you can also use the x offset and y offset to get the drawing directly under your line of vertices.)
Ok, with the background drawing fixed, select the mesh. [btw: the engine nacelle will cause all sorts of problems, I’d suggest deleting it and putting it back in once you have the overall shape going well] Extrude the mesh, constrained to y axis (E >> Edges, y) and, in top view, move the new vertices either up or down a bit, creating a set of faces between the new and original vertices. Do this a couple of times, then start back in the center and do the same thing in the other direction. (I’m assuming you moved your mesh to the centerline) I’d make the new rows of vertices at the edge of the tail section, the edge of the body, the outside edge of the running board.
Now you’ve got a brick with the side view profile cut into it. Start grabbing vertices that are too high and move them down to where they belong. You may need some new edges to make sharp corners, if so, use the loop cut tool (Ctrl + r).