Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)

This article is about the post-Second World War helicopter. For the wartime fighter aircraft built by the same company, see Westland Whirlwind (fighter).

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.

Whirlwind
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

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; RAF 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

Main article: List of Westland Whirlwind 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 British television show Thomas & Friends, was based on a Westland Whirlwind with fitted pontoons.^[64]

See also

Related development

• Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw
• Sikorsky H-34
  • Westland Wessex

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Mil Mi-4
• Harbin Z-5

References

Citations

1. James 1991, pp.320–321.
2. James 1991, p.322.
3. James 1991, p.329.
4. James 1991, p.330.
5. James 1991, p. 336.
6. . 22 April 2017. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016. 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. Thetford 1978, p.423.
9. "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – 1968". flightglobal.com. July 1968. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
10. "Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind". Demand media. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
11. "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – Page 49". flightglobal.com. July 1968. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
12. "Flight Global - 1966". flightglobal.com. July 1966. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
13. "Westland Whirlwind HAR3, N-7010, Brazilian Navy". abpic.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
14. "World Helicopter Market". Flight International. Vol. 94, no. 3096. 11 July 1968. p. 52.
15. "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – 1968". flightglobal.com. July 1968. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
16. "World Helicopter Market". Flight International. Vol. 94, no. 3096. 11 July 1968. p. 54.
17. Air International September 1988, p.136.
18. "Westland Whirlwind HAR10 Helicoptor". MooreAircraft.com. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
19. "A Royal Navy Westland Whirlwind helicopter flies alongside the south coast of England". BBC. Archived from the original on 15 February 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
20. "World Helicopter Market". Flight International. Vol. 94, no. 3096. 11 July 1968. p. 60.
21. "Yugoslavian Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind". Demand media. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
22. James 1991, p. 327.
23. "Bristow Helicopters Westland-WS-55". Demand media. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
24. "Westland WS-55 Series 3, G-AODA/EP-HAC/9Y-TDA, at The Helicopter Museum". helicoptermuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
25. Vassallo, David (2017). A history of the Princess Mary Hospital; Royal Air Force Akrotiri 1963-2013. Vassallo. p. 7. ISBN 9780992798017.
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32. "Aircraft Listing". Midland Air Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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34. "Aircraft". Solway Aviation Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
35. "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky Whirlwind HAR.21, s/n WV198 RN, c/r G-BJWY". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
36. "Westland Whirlwind HAR1 (XA864)". Fleet Air Arm Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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39. "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAR.3, s/n XG574 RN, c/n WA.069". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
40. "AEROPARK EXHIBITS". East Midlands Aeropark. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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42. "OUR EXHIBITS". Morayvia. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
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51. "OUR AIRCRAFT". Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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53. "Pathe". Pathe. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
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61. James 1991, pp.336–338.
62. Thetford 1978, p.352.
63. "Westland WS-55 Whirlwind Series 1". The Helicopter Museum. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
64. Awdry, Wilbert; Awdry, George (1987). 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.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westland Whirlwind (helicopter).

• Navy News 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• Westland Whirlwind page at helis.com database
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