Bristol Type 171 Sycamore

Bristol Aeroplane Company · United Kingdom · first flew 1947 · helicopter

The Bristol Sycamore was Britain's first domestically designed and built helicopter to enter series production, serving in both military and civil roles through the 1950s and early 1960s.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, rotary
E — Engines	1 × piston, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	Three-blade main rotor with fabric-covered fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Britain's first indigenous production helicopter
Three-blade main rotor with fabric-covered fuselage
Distinctive bulbous glazed nose with side-by-side pilot seats

Single-rotor helicopter with a rounded, almost bubble-shaped glazed nose, fabric-covered fuselage tapering to a slender tail boom, and a three-blade main rotor; noticeably compact compared to later turbine helicopters.

Specifications

The Bristol Type 171 Sycamore has a length of 14.07 m (46 ft).
It has a wingspan of 14.81 m (49 ft).
Its maximum speed is 204 km/h (127 mph).
Typical crew: 1–2 + up to 3 passengers.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Development began in 1944 under Raoul Hafner at Bristol; the prototype flew in 1947 and after extensive development entered RAF service in 1952 as the Sycamore HC.14. It saw active service in Malaya, Cyprus, and Aden in search-and-rescue and casualty evacuation roles.

Variants

Sycamore 1 through 4 civil variants; Sycamore HR.12/13/14 military search-and-rescue marks for the RAF and Royal Navy; exported to West Germany (Bundeswehr), Belgium, and Australia.

Where you'll see it

Served with the RAF and Royal Navy through the late 1950s, seeing genuine operational use in British colonial emergencies; West German Army used it as its first helicopter.

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