Engineering:Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)

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Short description: 1953 helicopter series by Westland
Whirlwind
Whirlwind - RIAT 2018 (cropped).jpg
A Royal Air Force Whirlwind HAR.10 of the RAF Search and Rescue Force
Role Helicopter
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Westland Aircraft
First flight August 1953
Introduction 1954
Primary users Royal Navy
Royal Air Force
Produced 1953–1966
Number built 360+
Developed from Sikorsky H-19

The Westland Whirlwind helicopter was a British licence-built version of the U.S. 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.

Design and development

In 1950, Westland Aircraft, already building the American Sikorsky S-51 under licence 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,[1] 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.[2] This was followed by ten Whirlwind HAR.1s, which entered service shortly afterwards. They served in non-combat roles, including search and rescue and communications functions. The HAR.3 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 HAR.5, powered by an uprated engine, the Alvis Leonides Major, flew for the first time.[3] This was followed by the similarly powered HAS.7, 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".[4] The HAS.7 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 mph.

In 1960 Westland introduced a Whirlwind powered by the 1,000 hp Bristol Siddeley Gnome turboshaft, the greater power giving much improved performance over the earlier piston-engined variants; helicopters receiving this modification were redesignated as the HAR.9. The Gnome featured an early computer controlled fuel system that removed variations in engine power and made for much easier handling by the pilot.

More than 400 Whirlwinds were built, of which nearly 100 were exported to foreign customers.[5]

Operational service

848 Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm was the first squadron to receive HAR.1s, which replaced Sikorsky-built HAR.21 versions of the Whirlwind, for utility and search-and-rescue service from July 1954. After entering service with the Royal Navy, the Whirlwind also entered service with the Royal Air Force and French Navy, which received 37 Whirlwind HAR.2 between 1954 and 1957.[5]

The Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force used Whirlwinds painted in overall yellow for rescuing people in distress around the coast of the United Kingdom . Westland Wessex, and eventually Westland Sea King, helicopters later supplemented and eventually replaced Whirlwinds in this role.[6]

Variants

Whirlwind Series 1 demonstrator fitted with P&W R-1340 in 1955
Whirlwind of the Royal Navy
Whirlwind HAS.7 of the Empire Test Pilots' School
Whirlwind HCC.12 of the Royal Flight
WS-55 Series 1
44 built; American engines (Pratt & Whitney R-1340-40 Wasp), transport helicopters for military and civilian use
WS-55 Series 2
19 built; Alvis engines (Alvis Leonides Major 755), civilian use
WS-55 Series 3
5 built; Gnome turboshaft (Bristol Siddeley Gnome 101), civilian use
HAR.1
10 built; RN service; Search and rescue
HAR.2
33 built; Royal Air Force service from 1955
HC.2
RAF service
HAR.3
25 built; RN service; Wright R-1300 Cyclone 7 engine
HAR.4
24 built; Improved HAR.2 for hot and high conditions, RAF service
HAR.5
3 built; Alvis Leonides Major engine and a 3 degree droop of the tail boom for increased main rotor clearance; RN service
HAR.6
1 ordered with Turbomeca Twin Turmo engine but completed as an HAR.5[7]
HAR.7
40 built; RN duties – 6 converted to HAR.9's
HAS.7
89 built; RN anti-submarine duties – 1 torpedo; 12 used as Royal Marine transports, 6 converted to HAR.9's
HCC.8
2 built; Royal Flight transport, VVIP later converted to HAR.10's
HAR.9
12 conversions of HAS.7 and HAR.7 with a Bristol Siddeley Gnome gas turbine replacing the Leonides Major engine, RN service
HC.10
RAF service
HAR.10
68 built; powered by a Bristol Siddeley Gnome turboshaft, RAF service, transport and air-sea rescue
HCC.12
2 built; Royal Flight,

The model numbers for the US-built evaluation models were

HAR.21
10 built by Sikorsky; rescue. Equivalent to US Marine HRS-2.[8]
HAS.22
15 built by Sikorsky; anti-submarine. Equivalent to HO4S-3.[8]

Operators

XJ726 – HAR 10 used by the Royal Air Force
XK936 – HAS 7 used by the Royal Navy

Military operators

 Austria[9][10]

 Brazil[11][12][13]

 Brunei[11]

 France[5]

 Ghana[14]

 Iran[14]

 Italy[14]

 Kuwait[15]

 Nigeria[16]

 Qatar[17]

 United Kingdom[18][19]

 Yugoslavia 19 helicopters [20][21]

Civil operators

 United Kingdom[22][23][24]

Surviving aircraft

Whirlwind helicopter (XD184), previously of 1563 Flt and No. 84 Squadron, at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus

Cyprus

  • XD184 – HAR.10 on static display at RAF Akrotiri as a gate guardian[25]

Germany

  • XD186 – HAR.10 on static display at Flugausstellung Hermeskeil in Hermeskeil, Rhineland-Palatinate.[26]
  • XP352 – HAR.10 on static display at Flugausstellung Hermeskeil in Hermeskeil, Rhineland-Palatinate.[26]

Netherlands

  • XG576 – HAR.3 on static display at PS Aero in Baarlo, Limburg.[27][28]

United Kingdom

  • G-ANFH Sir Ector Series 1 on static display at The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset[29]
  • WA.113 – Series 3 on static display at The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.[30][31]
  • WA.298 – Series 3 on static display at the Midland Air Museum in Baginton, Warwickshire.[32][33]
  • WV198 – HAR.21 on static display at the Solway Aviation Museum in Crosby-on-Eden, Cumbria.[34][35]
  • XA864 – HAR.1 in storage at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil, Somerset.[36]
  • XA870 – HAR.1 on static display at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Owned by the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group.[37]
  • XD163 – HAR.10 on static display at The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.[38]
  • XG574 – HAR.3 on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil, Somerset.[39]
  • XG588 – Series 3 on static display at East Midlands Aeropark in Castle Donington, Leicestershire.[40]
  • XG594 – HAS.7 in storage at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil, Somerset.[41]
  • XJ398 – HAR.10 on static display at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Owned by the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group.[37]
  • XJ723 – HAR.10 on static display at Morayvia in Kinloss, Moray.[42]
  • XJ726 – HAR.10 on static display at Caernarfon Airworld Museum in Dinas Dinlle, Gwynedd.[43][44]
  • XJ729 – HAR.10 airworthy with Historic Helicopters in Crewkerne, Somerset.[45]
  • XK936 – HAS.7 on static display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Duxford, Cambridgeshire.[46][47]
  • XK940 – HAS.7 on static display at The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.[48]
  • XL853 – HAS.7 in storage at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovil, Somerset.[49]
  • XL875 – HAR.9 at Air Service Training in Perth.[28]
  • XN258 – HAR.9 on static display at the North East Land, Sea and Air Museums in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.[50]
  • XN304 – HAS.7 on static display at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in Flixton, Suffolk.[51]
  • XN380 – HAS.7 under restoration for static display at the RAF Manston History Museum in Ramsgate, Kent.[52]
  • XN386 – HAS.9 on static display at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Owned by the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group.[37]
  • XJ436 - HAS.2 crashed in 1955 during a demonstration flight to the press presumably still at the bottom of the Channel 12 miles South of Selsey Bill.[53]
  • XP299 – HAR.10 on static display at the Royal Air Force Museum London in London.[54][55]
  • XP345 – HAR.10 on static display at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Owned by the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group.[37]
  • XP346 – HAR.10 on static display at All Things Wild in Evesham, Worcestershire.[56][57]
  • XP355 – HAR.10 on static display at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum in Horsham St Faith, Norfolk.[58]
  • XR453 – HAR.10 on static display at RAF Odiham in Odiham, Hampshire.[59]
  • XR485 – HAR.10 on static display at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in Flixton, Suffolk.[51]
  • XR486 – HCC.12 on static display at The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.[30][60]

Specifications (Whirlwind HAS.7)

Data from Westland Aircraft since 1915 [61]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2 pilots
  • Length: 41 ft 8 1⁄2 in (12.713 m)
  • Height: 15 ft 7 1⁄2 in (4.763 m)
  • Empty weight: 5,993 lb (2,718 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 7,800 lb (3,538 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Alvis Leonides Major 755 14-cylinder two-row radial engine, 750 hp (560 kW)
  • Main rotor diameter: 53 ft 0 in (16.15 m)
  • Main rotor area: 2,205 sq ft (204.9 m2)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 109 mph (175 km/h, 95 kn)
  • Range: 334 mi (538 km, 290 nmi) [62]
  • Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (4,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 910 ft/min (4.6 m/s)

Armament

  • 1x Mark 30 or Mark 44 torpedo or Depth charges (carried in place of dipping sonar)

In popular culture

In the Beatles first film, A Hard Day's Night, the group is seen flying away from the concert venue at the end of the film on the BEA Whirlwind, G-ANFH. The same aircraft appeared in the 1960 film, The Murderers and the 1963 Oliver Reed film, The Damned.[63]

The character of Harold the Helicopter from The Railway Series and Thomas & Friends is based on a Westland Whirlwind with fitted pontoons.[64]

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References

Citations

  1. ↑ James 1991, pp.320–321.
  2. ↑ James 1991, p.322.
  3. ↑ James 1991, p.329.
  4. ↑ James 1991, p.330.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 James 1991, p. 336.
  6. ↑ "RAF 22 Squadron". 22 April 2017. http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/22squadron.cfm. "It wasn't until 1955 that the Squadron reformed again, this time as a search and rescue unit equipped with Whirlwinds. It is in this guise that No. 22 Squadron exists today, having flown Wessex helicopters for a number of years before receiving Sea Kings in the mid-1990s." 
  7. ↑ Howard, Lee; Burrow, Mick; Myall, Eric (2011). Fleet Air Arm Helicopters since 1943. Air-Britain. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-85130-304-8. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Thetford 1978, p.423.
  9. ↑ "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – 1968". flightglobal.com. July 1968. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201204.html. 
  10. ↑ "Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind". Demand media. http://www.airliners.net/photo/Austria---Air/Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind/1275388/L/. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – Page 49". flightglobal.com. July 1968. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201205.html. 
  12. ↑ "Flight Global - 1966". flightglobal.com. July 1966. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1966/1966%20-%201430.html. 
  13. ↑ "Westland Whirlwind HAR3, N-7010, Brazilian Navy". abpic.co.uk. http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1290520/. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "World Helicopter Market". Flight International 94 (3096): 52. 11 July 1968. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201208.html. 
  15. ↑ "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – 1968". flightglobal.com. July 1968. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201209.html. 
  16. ↑ "World Helicopter Market". Flight International 94 (3096): 54. 11 July 1968. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201210.html. 
  17. ↑ Air International September 1988, p.136.
  18. ↑ "Westland Whirlwind HAR10 Helicoptor". MooreAircraft.com. http://aircraft-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/aircraft-gatwick-aviation-museum-Westland-whirlwind-helicopter-search-rescue.htm. 
  19. ↑ "A Royal Navy Westland Whirlwind helicopter flies alongside the south coast of England.". BBC. http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com/gallery/clip/1B012593_0002.do. 
  20. ↑ "World Helicopter Market". Flight International 94 (3096): 60. 11 July 1968. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201216.html. 
  21. ↑ "Yugoslavian Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind". Demand media. http://www.airliners.net/photo/Yugoslavia---Air/Westland-WS-55-2-Whirlwind/1335527/L/&sid=b84dfc9613be7729df65a9e177ee2194. 
  22. ↑ James 1991, p. 327.
  23. ↑ "Bristow Helicopters Westland-WS-55". Demand media. http://www.airliners.net/photo/Bristow-Helicopters/Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind/1187782/L/&sid=cb1df023f20f38370f803c9eb9bb0699. 
  24. ↑ "Westland WS-55 Series 3, G-AODA/EP-HAC/9Y-TDA, at The Helicopter Museum". helicoptermuseum.co.uk. http://www.hmfriends.org.uk/brisgaodabig.htm. 
  25. ↑ Vassallo, David (2017). A history of the Princess Mary Hospital; Royal Air Force Akrotiri 1963-2013. Vassallo. p. 7. ISBN 9780992798017. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "[Homepage"]. http://www.flugausstellung.de. 
  27. ↑ "Sikorsky S-55 Royal Navy 590". http://www.psaero.com/aircraft/sikorsky-s-55-royal-navy-590. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Westland Whirlwind". http://www.demobbed.org.uk/aircraft.php?type=1186. 
  29. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HM
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "[Untitled"]. http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk/leonardo.htm. 
  31. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland WS-55-Series 3 Whirlwind, c/n WA.113, c/r 9Y-TDA". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=67244. 
  32. ↑ "Aircraft Listing". http://www.midlandairmuseum.co.uk/aircraftlist.php. 
  33. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland WS-55-Series 3 Whirlwind, c/n WA.298, c/r G-APWN". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=34922. 
  34. ↑ "Aircraft". http://www.solway-aviation-museum.co.uk/?page_id=105. 
  35. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky Whirlwind HAR.21, s/n WV198 RN, c/r G-BJWY". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=36142. 
  36. ↑ "Westland Whirlwind HAR1 (XA864)". http://www.fleetairarm.com/exhibit/Westland-Whirlwind-HAR1-XA864/6-30-57.aspx. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 "Aircraft List". http://www.southyorkshireaircraftmuseum.org.uk/aircraftlist. 
  38. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAR.10, s/n XD163 RAF, c/n WA.020". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=187977. 
  39. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAR.3, s/n XG574 RN, c/n WA.069". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=79734. 
  40. ↑ "AEROPARK EXHIBITS". http://www.eastmidlandsaeropark.org/aeropark-exhibits.html. 
  41. ↑ "Westland Whirlwind HAS7 (XG594)". http://www.fleetairarm.com/exhibit/Westland-Whirlwind-HAS7-XG594/6-30-80.aspx. 
  42. ↑ "OUR EXHIBITS". http://www.morayvia.org.uk/exhibits. 
  43. ↑ "EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM". http://www.airworldmuseum.com/exhibits. 
  44. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAR.10, s/n XJ726 RAF, c/n WA.097". AerialVisuals.ca. http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=44125. 
  45. ↑ "WHIRLWIND". http://www.historichelicopters.com/Pages/30/Whirlwind.html. 
  46. ↑ "WESTLAND WHIRLWIND HAS7". http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/70000230. 
  47. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAS.7, s/n XK936 RAF, c/n WA.163". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=57486. 
  48. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAS.7, s/n XK940 RN, c/n WAH.167, c/r G-AYXT". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=67250. 
  49. ↑ "Westland Whirlwind HAS7 (XL853)". http://www.fleetairarm.com/exhibit/Westland-Whirlwind-HAS7-XL853/6-30-91.aspx. 
  50. ↑ "Aircraft on display". http://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAM/Exhibits. 
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 "OUR AIRCRAFT". http://www.aviationmuseum.net/ouraircraft.htm. 
  52. ↑ "Aircraft & Cockpit Exhibits". http://www.rafmanston.co.uk/index.php/museum-aircraft. 
  53. ↑ "Pathe". https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/59901/. 
  54. ↑ "Westland Whirlwind HAR 10". http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/westland-whirlwind-har-10. 
  55. ↑ Simpson, Andrew (2013). "INDIVIDUAL HISTORY [XP299"]. http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/1987-0012-A-Whirlwind-HAR-10-XP299.pdf. 
  56. ↑ "Basecamp Honeybourne". http://www.allthingswild.co.uk/project/basecamp-honeybourne. 
  57. ↑ "c/n wa362". http://www.helis.com/database/cn/20694. 
  58. ↑ "Aircraft". http://www.cnam.org.uk/1aircraft.php. 
  59. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAR.10, s/n XR453 RAF". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=98888. 
  60. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HCC.12, s/n XR486 RAF, c/n WA.418, c/r G-RWWW". http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=125528. 
  61. ↑ James 1991, pp.336–338.
  62. ↑ Thetford 1978, p.352.
  63. ↑ "Westland WS-55 Whirlwind Series 1". https://helimuseum.com/rheli.php?ident=ws55-1. 
  64. ↑ Awdry, Wilbert; Awdry, George (1987) (in en). The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways. Kaye & Ward. ISBN 0-434-92762-7. 

Bibliography

  • James, Derek M. Westland Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1991. ISBN:0-85177-847-X.
  • Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8. 
  • Thetford, Owen. British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London:Putnam, 1978. ISBN:0-370-30021-1.
  • "Wings Over the Gulf: The Qatari Emiri Air Force". Air International, September 1988, Vol. 35, No. 3. pp. 135–144.
  • "World Helicopter Market". Flight International 94 (3096): 48–60. 11 July 1968. https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201204.html. 

External links



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