Westland Whirlwind helicopter British licence built version of the Sikorsky one restored to flight 2013. HAR10. Flying at airshow
The Westland Whirlwind helicopter was a British licence-built version of the Sikorsky S-55/H-19 Chickasaw. It primarily served with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in anti-submarine and search and rescue roles. In 1950, Westland Aircraft, already building the American Sikorsky S-51 under license as the Westland Dragonfly, purchased the rights to manufacture and sell Sikorsky's larger Sikorsky S-55 helicopter. While a Sikorsky-built pattern aircraft was flown by Westland in June 1951, converting the design to meet British standards (including the provision of a revised main-rotor gearbox), was time consuming, and the first prototype British aircraft, registered G-AMJT, powered by the 600 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-40 Wasp did not fly until August 1953. This was followed by ten Whirlwind , which entered service shortly afterwards. They served in non-combat roles, including search and rescue and communications roles. The had a larger 700 hp Wright R-1300-3 Cyclone 7 engine. The performance of early versions was limited by the power of the American Wasp or Cyclone engines, and in 1955, the , powered by the more powerful British engine, the Alvis Leonides Major, flew for the first time. This was followed by the similarly powered , which became the first British helicopter designed for anti-submarine warfare in the front-line when it entered service in 1957. It could either be equipped with a dipping Sonar for submarine detection or carry a torpedo, but could not carry both simultaneously, so sonar equipped "Hunters" were used to direct torpedo armed "Killers". The was powered by a 750 hp (560 kW) Alvis Leonides Major 755/1 radial engine. It had a hovering ceiling at 9,400 ft (2,900 m) and a range of 334 miles at 86 were converted to use the Rolls-Royce Gnome turboshaft engine, as the and 10. XJ729 started life as a HAR2 and first flew on 18th Jan 1956, later updated to HAR10. Last flew in service1981. Restored 2013
Size: 3970px × 2631px
Location: RAF Waddington, Waddington, Lincs, UK
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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