Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)

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Westland Whirlwind
Westland Whirlwind
Type: Transport helicopter
Design country:

United StatesUnited States United States / United KingdomUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom 

Manufacturer:

Westland Aircraft

Number of pieces:

over 400

A 1956 Westland Whirlwind on a June 10, 2018 demonstration flight at Cosford Airshow

The Westland Whirlwind was a British military transport helicopter developed in the USA . With a crew of two, ten passengers or six wounded in an ambulance could be carried on stretchers or 1,300 kg of cargo. The fuselage was made of all-metal half - shell construction. The paneling consisted of aluminum and magnesium alloys.

history

The history of the Whirlwind began when Westland acquired the license to build the Sikorsky S-55 . Since the British Navy had already put some S-55s built by Sikorsky into service and Westland was already producing other Sikorsky models, it made sense to manufacture this type in Great Britain as well. The first Whirlwind Series 2 / HAR2 lifted on 12 November 1952 in Yeovil from, equipped with a Pratt & Whitney - radial engine R-1340-40 with 441.3 kW (600 hp). The first squadron of the RAF from 1955 was the 22nd Squadron in RAF Thorney Island .

After that, two modifications came off the production line for the British armed forces: The Whirlwind HAR3 ( Wright R-1300 star engine) and the Whirlwind HAR4 (Pratt & Whitney R-1340-57 star engine), the latter modified for use in the tropics and in Malaysia used.

Up to this point in time, the difference between the Whirlwind and the S-55 was barely noticeable. The engines used were not exactly the same, but still came from US production. Even at the beginning of the production of the Whirlwind , the use of engines of British origin was considered. Therefore, the British company Alvis had started developing a 14-cylinder double radial engine, which was available from 1955 in the form of the Leonides Major 755 . This engine was throttled from 647 kW (880 PS) to 551.6 kW (750 PS) and installed by Westland for the British Army in the Whirlwind HAR5 ( first flight on August 28, 1955).

The separation of the Whirlwind from its base model S-55 was continued when the engineers at Westland began to try to use a shaft turbine instead of the previous radial engines. The first test models were equipped with General Electric T58 turbines, later the De Havilland Gnome was used . Due to the different design of the turbines, the nose of the fuselage had been redesigned, whereby the technical advancement of the Whirlwind compared to the S-55 was also externally visible. The round "nose" of the previous models could be made flatter, which gave the crew a better view downwards.

The first prototype of the turbine-powered Whirlwind Series 3 started on February 28, 1959. The flight performance achieved represented a significant increase compared to the previous models. Equipped in this way, a few Whirlwinds were again sold to the armed forces ( Whirlwind HAR10 ).

A total of over 400 copies were built. About a quarter of the total production was exported all over the world.

Versions

Royal Air Force rescue helicopter
Civil versions
Whirlwind Series 2
Whirlwind Series 3
Military versions
Royal Air Force HAR Mk.2 (identical to the Navy HAR Mk.1 except for the equipment)
HAR Mk.4
H.AR Mk.10
British Army HAR5
Royal Navy HAR Mk.1 (except for the equipment identical to HAR Mk.2 of the Air Force)
HAR Mk.3
H.AS Mk.7 ( submarine fighter)
HAR Mk.9

Technical specifications

Parameter Data HAR5 Data Series 3
Construction year 1955 1959
Manufacturer Westland Aircraft
Rotor diameter 16.15 m 16.15 m
Hull length 12.71 m 13.46 m
Length over all 18.95 m 18.95 m
height 4.06 m 4.76 m
Preparation mass 2531 kg 2130 kg
Takeoff mass 3538 kg 3630 kg
crew 2 2
Top speed 175 km / h 175 km / h
Hover altitude
with ground effect 		1680 m 4820
Service ceiling nb 5000 m
Range 570 km 510 km
Engine 1 double star engine Alvis Leonides Major 755
throttled to 551.6 kW (750 PS)		 1 De Havilland Gnome H.1000 shaft turbine with 772.2 kW (1050 PS)

Users

See also

Web links

Commons : Westland Whirlwind  - Collection of images, videos and audio files