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Westland Widgeon (helicopter)

From PlaneSpottingWorld, for aviation fans everywhere
For the 1924 aeroplane, see Westland Widgeon (fixed wing)

The Westland Widgeon helicopter was a private venture by Westland Aircraft as an improvement on the Westland WS-51 Dragonfly.

Design and development

Westland Aircraft decided to make a private venture improvement on the Westland WS-51 Dragonfly, which was a licensed Sikorsky design, helicopter by increasing the cabin capacity and replacing the Dragonfly's rotor head, blades and gearbox with the units used in the Westland Whirlwind. Three Dragonfly Series 1As were converted to WS-51 Series 2 Widgeons, and the first one flew on 23 August 1955.

There was a plan to take up to 24 existing Fleet Air Arm Dragonflies to Dragonfly HC.7 standard (as the Naval Widgeon was to become) but this was abandoned and it contributed to the decision to stop progress.Template:Clarifyme

Operational history

The Widgeon was a technical triumph. Widgeons flew in many parts of the world, but it never achieved commercial success.

Operators

Military operators

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Civilian operators

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Specifications (Widgeon)

Data from Westland Aircraft since 1915 [1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: 4 passengers
  • Length: 41 ft 10 in (12.75 m)
  • Rotor diameter: 49 ft 2 in (14.99 m)
  • Height: 13 ft 4 in (4.07 m)
  • Disc area: 1,898 ft² (176.4 m²)
  • Empty weight: 4,322 lb (1,969 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 5,900 lb (2,682 kg)
  • Powerplant:Alvis Leonides 521/2 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 520 hp (388 kW)

Performance


See also

Related development

References

  1. James 1991, p.320.
  • James, Derek N. Westland Aircraft since 1915. London:Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1991. ISBN 0 85177 847 X.

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