Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)

This article describes the post-World War II helicopter. For the WWII fighter aircraft of the same name, see here.

Whirlwind
275px
A Royal Air Force Whirlwind HAR10
Type	helicopter
Manufacturer	Westland Aircraft
Maiden flight	August 1953
Introduced	1950
Primary users	Royal Navy Royal Air Force British Army
Number built	400
Developed from	Sikorsky H-19

The Westland Whirlwind helicopter was a British-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.

History

The first prototype British Whirlwind HAR.1 flew in August 1953, with the 600 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-40 Wasp, and it 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. It was not until 1955 that the HAR.5 flew for the first time with a British power plant, the Alvis Leonides Major.

The HAS.7 became the first British helicopter designed for anti-submarine work in the front-line when it entered service in 1956. It was equipped with radar and dipping ASDIC for submarine detection and designed to be equipped with a torpedo, but could not carry both simultaneously. In this version the engine was a 750 hp (560 kW) Alvis Leonides Major 755/1. This helicopter had a hovering ceiling at 9,400 ft and a range of 334 miles at 86 mph.

Later in their lives, some HAR.9s were converted to use the Rolls-Royce Gnome turbine engine.

From its start with the Navy, the Whirlwind came to be used by the British Army and RAF. More than 400 Whirlwinds were built, of which nearly 100 were exported to the foreign customers.

Variants

File:Westland Whirlwind Helicopter.jpg

Westland Whirlwind of the Royal Navy

(With production numbers)

• WS-55 Series 1: 44

American engines (Pratt & Whitney Wasp R-1340-40), transport helicopters for military and civilian use

• WS-55 Series 2: 19

Alvis engines (Alvis Leonides Major 755), civilian use

• WS-55 Series 3: 5

Gnome turboshaft (Bristol Siddeley Gnome 101), civilian use

• HAR.1 :10

Search and rescue

RN service

• HAR.2 : 33

RAF service from 1955

• HAR.3 : 25

Wright Cyclone engine

RN service

• HAR.4 : 24

Improved HAR.2 for hot and high conditions

• MAR.5 : 3

Alvis engines

RN service

• HAS.7 : 129

RN anti-submarine duties - 1 torpedo

12 used for Royal Marine transport use

• HCC.8 : 2

Royal Flight transport, VVIP

• HAR.9 :

RN service

• HC.10

RAF service

• HAR.10: 68

RAF, transport and air-sea rescue

• HCC.12: 2

Royal Flight,

The model numbers for the US-built evaluation models were

• HAR.21 10 rescue
• HAS.22 12 anti-submarine

Operators

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Preserved examples

Over 20 aircraft are preserved in the UK in museums including the RAF Museum and the Fleet Air Arm Museum as well as being the current "Gate Guard" at RAF Odiham.

Whirlwind Series 3 G-APWN, Midland Air Museum, Coventry, England. Sometimes open for viewing

Specifications (Whirlwind HAS7)

General characteristics

• Crew: Two pilots
• Length: 41 ft 9 in (12.71 m)
• Rotor diameter: 53 ft 0 in (16.15 m)
• Height: ft in (m)
• Disc area: 2,205 ft² (205 m²)
• Empty weight: lb (kg)
• Loaded weight: lb (kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 7,800 lb (3,538 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Alvis Leonides Major 9-cylinder radial, 750 hp (559 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 104 mph (167 km/h)
• Range: 334 miles (534 km)
• Service ceiling: ft (m)
• Rate of climb: ft/min (m/min)
• Disc loading: 3.5 lb/ft² (17.3 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.01 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg)

Armament

• 1x torpedo (carried in place of dipping sonar)

External links

• Navy News
• Helicopter museum
• RAF museum
• British Aircraft Directory
• Westland Whirlwind page at helis.com database

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)".