Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)

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.

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

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.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.[7]
HAS.22
15 built by Sikorsky; anti-submarine. Equivalent to HO4S-3.[7]

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[8][9]

 Brazil[10][11][12]

 Brunei[10]

 France[5]

 Ghana[13]

 Iran[13]

 Italy[13]

 Kuwait[14]

 Nigeria[15]

 Qatar[16]

 United Kingdom[17][18]

 Yugoslavia 19 helicopters [19][20]

Civil operators

 United Kingdom[21][22][23]

Surviving aircraft
Whirlwind helicopter (XD184), previously of 1563 Flt and No. 84 Squadron, at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus

Cyprus

Germany

Netherlands

United Kingdom

Specifications (Whirlwind HAS.7)

Data from Westland Aircraft since 1915 [58]

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) [59]
  • Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (4,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 910 ft/min (4.6 m/s)

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

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. "RAF 22 Squadron". 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. Thetford 1978, p.423.
  8. "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – 1968". flightglobal.com. July 1968. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  9. "Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind". Demand media. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  10. "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – Page 49". flightglobal.com. July 1968. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  11. "Flight Global - 1966". flightglobal.com. July 1966. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  12. "Westland Whirlwind HAR3, N-7010, Brazilian Navy". abpic.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  13. "World Helicopter Market". Flight International. Vol. 94 no. 3096. 11 July 1968. p. 52.
  14. "FlightGlobal World Helicopter Market – 1968". flightglobal.com. July 1968. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  15. "World Helicopter Market". Flight International. Vol. 94 no. 3096. 11 July 1968. p. 54.
  16. Air International September 1988, p.136.
  17. "Westland Whirlwind HAR10 Helicoptor". MooreAircraft.com. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  18. "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.
  19. "World Helicopter Market". Flight International. Vol. 94 no. 3096. 11 July 1968. p. 60.
  20. "Yugoslavian Westland-WS-55-Whirlwind". Demand media. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  21. James 1991, p. 327.
  22. "Bristow Helicopters Westland-WS-55". Demand media. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  23. "Westland WS-55 Series 3, G-AODA/EP-HAC/9Y-TDA, at The Helicopter Museum". helicoptermuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  24. 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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  31. "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland WS-55-Series 3 Whirlwind, c/n WA.298, c/r G-APWN". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  32. "Aircraft". Solway Aviation Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  33. "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky Whirlwind HAR.21, s/n WV198 RN, c/r G-BJWY". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  34. "Westland Whirlwind HAR1 (XA864)". Fleet Air Arm Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  35. "Aircraft List". South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  36. "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAR.10, s/n XD163 RAF, c/n WA.020". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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  38. "AEROPARK EXHIBITS". East Midlands Aeropark. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  39. "Westland Whirlwind HAS7 (XG594)". Fleet Air Arm Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  40. "OUR EXHIBITS". Morayvia. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  41. "EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUM". Airworld Aviation Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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  43. "WHIRLWIND". Historic Helicopters. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  44. "WESTLAND WHIRLWIND HAS7". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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  46. "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HAS.7, s/n XK940 RN, c/n WAH.167, c/r G-AYXT". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  47. "Westland Whirlwind HAS7 (XL853)". Fleet Air Arm Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  48. "Aircraft on display". North East Land, Sea and Air Museums. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  49. "OUR AIRCRAFT". Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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  51. "Westland Whirlwind HAR 10". Royal Air Force Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  52. Simpson, Andrew (2013). "INDIVIDUAL HISTORY [XP299]" (PDF). Royal Air Force Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  53. "Basecamp Honeybourne". All Things Wild. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  54. "c/n wa362". Helis.com. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  55. "Aircraft". City of Norwich Aviation Museum. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
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  57. "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky-Westland Whirlwind HCC.12, s/n XR486 RAF, c/n WA.418, c/r G-RWWW". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  58. James 1991, pp.336–338.
  59. Thetford 1978, p.352.

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.
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