36-600: The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51 . On 19 January 1947 an agreement was signed between Westland Aircraft and Sikorsky to allow a British version of the S-51 to be manufactured under licence in the United Kingdom. These would be powered by the 500 hp Alvis Leonides radial engine. A modified version
72-571: A Short 184 seaplane, using a bombsight developed by Bourdillon and Tizard , hit a target with a 500-pound bomb from a height of 4,000 feet. The 184 was also used for trials of the Davis gun in April 1916 The Type 184 was still in production at the end of the war, and in December 1918 315 remained in service. After the end of the war they were mainly used for spotting mines , and remained in service at least until
108-605: A new foundry, but ended up becoming the centre for aircraft production. As a result of the experience gained in manufacturing aircraft under licence, Westland began to design and build its own aircraft, starting with the Westland N.1B in 1917, which was followed in 1918 by the Wagtail and the Weasel . Following the end of war, Westland produced the Limousine and Woodpigeon light aircraft for
144-432: A two struts attached to the front cross-tube and two pairs of struts attached to the rear cross-tube, both cross-tubes being arched in the middle to accommodate the torpedo crutches. The wooden tail float incorporated a small water-rudder actuated by torque tubes connected to the main rudder, and cylindrical air-bags were fitted beneath the lower wing-tips. The aircraft was fitted with a radio transmitter and receiver, which
180-615: The Engadine at about 3.30. The aircraft was presented to the Imperial War Museum in 1917, where it was damaged in a German air raid during the Blitz . The unrestored forward section of the fuselage is currently on loan from IWM to Fleet Air Arm Museum where it is on public display. The aircraft served in most theatres of the war. Five were used in Mesopotamia , where they were flown from
216-617: The Malayan Emergency . Fifty-one civilian WS-51s were produced. Examples were used by Pest Control Ltd for crop spraying and others were flown as executive transports by Silver City Airways , Evening Standard Newspapers and Fairey Aviation . Exported aircraft operated in Japan, Belgian Congo, Mexico and Norway. [REDACTED] Brazil Australia Brazil Japan Malta Netherlands Serbia Sri Lanka Thailand United Kingdom Venezuela Data from Jane's all
252-808: The Sikorsky S-51 flying for the first time in 1948 and as the Westland-Sikorksy Dragonfly entering service with the Royal Navy and RAF from 1950. Westland developed an improved version the Widgeon which was not a great success. Success with the Dragonfly was repeated with the Sikorsky S-55 which became the Whirlwind , and a re-engined Sikorsky S-58 in both turboshaft and turbine engine powered designs as
288-529: The Wessex . In 1952 Westland decided on four helicopter designs for possible development: None of these Westland helicopters advanced further than the paper study. Westland did progress as a private venture, a large space-frame cargo helicopter design using a Sikorksy rotor head - the Westland Westminster - but this was dropped later in favour of the government funded Fairey Rotodyne . From 1959 to 1961
324-402: The 225 hp (168 kW) Sunbeam Mohawk engine currently being developed. Design proposals were invited from Sopwith , J. Samuel White and Short Brothers. Horace Short's response when the requirements were explained him by Murray Sueter , the director of the naval air department, was to say "Well, if you particularly want this done, I will produce a seaplane that will satisfy you", and on
360-675: The British government forced the consolidation of 20 or so British aviation firms into three larger groups with the threat of withheld contracts and the lure of project funding. While the majority of fixed-wing aircraft design and construction lay in the British Aircraft Corporation and the Hawker Siddeley Group , the helicopter divisions of Bristol , Fairey and Saunders-Roe (with their hovercraft ) were merged with Westland to form Westland Helicopters in 1961. Normalair
396-566: The River Tigris at Ora, and in April 1916 they were used to drop supplies to the besieged garrison at Kut al Amara . The principal use of the 184 was its use in anti-submarine patrol work. Although a substantial number of submarines were spotted and attacked, no confirmed sinkings were made. The type was used for a number of experiments by the Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot . On 9 May 1916,
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#1732848885986432-566: The Spitfire. The Westland Wyvern was a post-war design of carrier-based strike-fighter for the Fleet Air Arm serving up to 1958. Post-war the company decided to get out of fixed-wing aircraft and concentrate solely on helicopters under a licensing agreement with Sikorsky . This upset W.E.W. Petter , the chief designer, who left to form a new aircraft division at English Electric that would go on to be very successful. Production started with
468-565: The World's Aircraft 1955–56 General characteristics Performance Related development Related lists Westland Aircraft Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil , Somerset . Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Limited just before the start of the Second World War , Westland had been building aircraft since 1915. During
504-531: The armistice in 1918. A Short 184 was the first aircraft to sink a ship using a torpedo, and another was the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland . Torpedo-dropping trials had been undertaken using a 160 hp (120 kW) Gnome powered Short Admiralty Type 166 but this had proved insufficiently powerful, and so in September 1914 a new specification was formulated for an aircraft to be powered by
540-499: The civilian market, but most successful was the Wapiti close support aircraft. In 1935 Petters split its aircraft manufacturing from its aircraft engine concerns to form Westland Aircraft Limited , based in Yeovil , Somerset. The Whirlwind was the UK's first cannon-armed fighter and faster than many other British aircraft at the time but was troubled by the inability of Rolls-Royce to produce
576-566: The construction under licence of initially 12 Short Type 184 seaplanes , followed by 20 Short Admiralty Type 166 . Orders for other aircraft followed during First World War , including the Sopwith 1½ Strutter , the de Havilland designed Airco DH.4 , Airco DH.9 and Airco DH.9A and the Vickers Vimy . The name "Westland" was chosen by Mrs Petter as new land purchased as part of an expansion in 1913 at West Hendford which had been earmarked for
612-642: The end of 1920. Following the Geddes Report all were struck off charge by the end of 1922. Post-war, five aircraft were adapted to seat four passengers and used for pleasure flights: two being used by the Eastbourne Aviation Co., two by the Seaplane and Pleasure Trip Co., and one by Manchester Airways. In 2010, the Estonian Maritime Museum announced it had ordered a non-flying reproduction of
648-452: The engines. The Lysander army co-operation aircraft was displaced for reconnaissance as too vulnerable but found favour for specialist missions into occupied Europe carrying agents. Westland tendered designs for new aircraft during the war but only the Welkin was accepted. The Welkin was a twin-engine high altitude design to intercept attempts by high-flying German bombers to attack Britain. When
684-424: The forward spar, locked and unlocked by a quarter-turn in a similar manner to the breech of a field-gun. In the folded position the wings were supported by a transverse shaft mounted in front of the tailplane: this was rotated by a lever in the cockpit so that its upturned ends engaged with slots on the interplane struts in order to lock the wings in the folded position. The twin unstepped main floats were carried by
720-436: The fuselage was faired to a semi-circular section. The engine was mounted on bearers fixed to pressed steel transverse frames mounted between the longerons and the large rectangular radiator was mounted above and behind the engine, directly in front of the upper wing. The lower wings were parallel-chord, while the upper wings increased in chord from the centre section to the wingtips. The two prototype aircraft had ailerons on
756-498: The most successful of Shorts' pre- World War II aircraft. The two prototype aircraft were embarked upon HMS Ben-my-Chree , which sailed for the Aegean on 21 March 1915 to take part in the Gallipoli campaign . On 12 August 1915 one of these, piloted by Flight Commander Charles Edmonds , was the first aircraft in the world to attack an enemy ship with an air-launched torpedo. However,
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#1732848885986792-698: The navy's Dragonflies to the Widgeon standard with a larger cabin, to be known as the Dragonfly HR.7 , was dropped in 1957 due to defence cuts. It was replaced in British service by the Westland Whirlwind , another derivative of a Sikorsky design, in the late 1950s. Dragonflies were used in relief operations in the North Sea flood of 1953 and a number were used by the Royal Air Force for casualty evacuation during
828-508: The plane to be built for fitting into one of their historic seaplane hangars. The main designer was killed in a glider crash on 11 July of the same year. However, a group of enthusiasts took over the build and the reproduction project was completed in spring 2012. The replica is now displayed in collection of the museum and can be seen at the Seaplane Harbour in Tallinn . A single example of
864-573: The prototype registered G-AKTW. After evaluation initial orders for the British military were placed, thirteen Dragonfly HR.1s for the Royal Navy and three Dragonfly HC.2s for the Royal Air Force. A total of seventy-two Dragonfly helicopters entered service with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in the training, air-sea rescue and communications roles. The first unit to be equipped with them
900-555: The ship had already been crippled by a torpedo fired by the British submarine E14 . However, on 17 August 1915, another Turkish ship was sunk by a torpedo of whose origin there was no doubt. On this occasion Flight Commander Edmonds torpedoed a Turkish transport ship a few miles north of the Dardanelles. His formation colleague, Flt Lt George Dacre, was forced to land on the water owing to engine trouble but, seeing an enemy tug close by, taxied up to it and released his torpedo, sinking
936-620: The strength of this assurance two prototypes were ordered, for which serial nos. 184 and 185 were reserved, the resultant type so becoming the Type 184 . Similar in basic design to earlier Short floatplanes built for the Navy, the Type 184 was an equal-span three-bay tractor configuration biplane. The fuselage was a conventional wire-braced wooden box-girder, with spruce longerons spindled out to reduce weight and fittings of manganese steel. The top surface of
972-578: The threat never appeared production was limited. For much of the war their factories were used to build Supermarine Spitfires , after the Supermarine factory in Southampton was bombed out of action during the Battle of Britain ; indeed Westlands built more Spitfires than any other manufacturer. Westland would then go on to be the major designers of the Supermarine Seafire , a navalised conversion of
1008-560: The tug. Without the weight of the torpedo Dacre was able to take off and return to the Ben-My-Chree . The performance of the Type 184 in the climatic conditions of the Mediterranean was marginal, it being necessary to fly without an observer and carry a limited amount of fuel, and the 184 was therefore used either as a bomber, carrying two 112 lb bombs, or for reconnaissance and gunnery observation. A Short 184, aircraft number 8359,
1044-594: The upper aileron surface to return the aileron to the neutral position. This only produced a marginal improvement, so ailerons were then added to the lower wings, these being fitted to all the aircraft built apart from the two prototypes. These were linked by cables to the upper ailerons, and the bungee cord to return the ailerons was rigged between the top of the rear interplane struts and the lower ailerons. The first aircraft flew in early 1915. An order for ten more aircraft had already been placed, and 936 aircraft were built by ten different British aircraft companies, making it
1080-427: The upper wing only. These were single-acting, relying on the airflow to maintain them in a neutral position unless pulled downwards by using the flight controls. The interplane struts were steel tubing with wood fairings to produce a streamline section. The wings could be swung out from the pilot's position, by means of a hand-winch in the cockpit, locking being accomplished by means of a splined and threaded spigot in
1116-489: The war the company produced a number of generally unsuccessful designs, but their Lysander would serve as an important liaison aircraft with the Royal Air Force . After the war the company focused on helicopters , and was merged with several other British firms to create Westland Helicopters in 1961. In 1915 the Westland Aircraft Works was founded as a division of Petters in response to government orders for
Westland WS-51 Dragonfly - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-587: Was 705 Naval Air Squadron , which is believed to be the first all-helicopter squadron to be formed outside of the United States. The Dragonfly was the first British-built helicopter to be used by the navy and the first to operate from a British ship in trials on RFA Fort Duquesne in 1951. A Dragonfly led the helicopter section of the flypast at the Coronation Review of the Fleet in 1953. A planned upgrade
1188-471: Was also developed by Westland as the Westland Widgeon , but it was commercially unsuccessful. After delays caused by the need to modify and convert American-drawings to reflect British-sourced items and to replace the engine with a British-built Alvis Leonides 50, the prototype was first flown from Yeovil on 5 October 1948 piloted by Alan Bristow. Only 16 months had elapsed since work had begun on building
1224-549: Was created to continue the development and marketing of the pressure relief valves used in the Welkin project. Short Type 184 The Short Admiralty Type 184 , often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folding-wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers . It was first flown in 1915 and remained in service until after
1260-483: Was powered by a wind-driven generator mounted on a hinged arm so that it could be folded back when not being used, and other equipment carried included a basket of carrier pigeons , intended to be used as a back-up for the radio in the event of forced landings. Initial trials revealed a lack of longitudinal control, and the single-acting ailerons caused problems when taxying downwind, so the two prototypes were fitted with lengths of bungee cord attached to control horns on
1296-473: Was the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland . Flown by Flt Lt Frederick Rutland (who became known afterwards as "Rutland of Jutland") with Assistant Paymaster G. S. Trewin as observer, the aircraft was launched from HMS Engadine at about 3.08 p.m.: flying at about 90 ft (27 m) due to low visibility, they spotted four cruisers of the German fleet, reporting their presence back to
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