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.
Design and development
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.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 and a range of 334 miles at 86 mph.
Later in their lives, some HAR.9s were converted to use the Rolls-Royce Gnome turboshaft 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
WS-55 Series 1 : 44 built; American engines (
Pratt & Whitney Wasp R-1340-40), transport helicopters for military and civilian useWS-55 Series 2 : 19 built; Alvis engines (
Alvis Leonides Major 755), civilian useWS-55 Series 3 : 5 built; Gnome turboshaft (
Bristol Siddeley Gnome 101), civilian useHAR.1 : 10 built; RN service; Search and rescueHAR.2 : 33 built; RAF service from 1955HAR.3 : 25 built; RN service;
Wright Cyclone engineHAR.4 : 24 built; Improved HAR.2 for hot and high conditions HAR.5 : 3 built; Alvis engines; RN serviceHAS.7 : 129 built; RN anti-submarine duties - 1 torpedo; 12 used as
Royal Marine transportsHCC.8 : 2 built; Royal Flight transport,
VVIPHAR.9 : RN serviceHC.10 : RAF serviceHAR.10 : 68 built; RAF, transport and air-sea rescueHCC.12 : 2 built; Royal Flight,
The model numbers for the US-built evaluation models were HAR.21 : 44 built; rescueHAS.22 : 44 built; anti-submarine
Operators
Survivors
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 guardian at
RAF Odiham.
Whirlwind Series 3 G-APWN, Midland Air Museum, Coventry, England. Sometimes open for viewing
Specifications (Whirlwind HAS7)
See also
External links
