Westland Sea King

Westland Helicopters · United Kingdom · first flew 1969 · helicopter

The Westland Sea King is a British licence-built development of the Sikorsky S-61, a twin-turbine anti-submarine, commando and search-and-rescue helicopter.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, rotary
E — Engines	2 × turboshaft, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	Boat-hulled amphibious fuselage with two side flotation sponsons
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Boat-hulled amphibious fuselage with two side flotation sponsons
Tall rotor pylon with a prominent gearbox hump
Iconic RAF yellow or Royal Navy grey SAR liveries

The boat-hulled fuselage on flotation sponsons, tall pylon with gearbox hump and yellow or grey SAR colours make it instantly recognisable.

Specifications

The Westland Sea King has a length of 17.02 m (56 ft).
It has a wingspan of 18.9 m (62 ft).
Its maximum speed is 208 km/h (129 mph).
Typical crew: 2-4 (2 pilots plus aircrew).

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

History

Westland adapted the American Sea King to British requirements with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines and indigenous mission systems. The Westland-built HAS.1 first flew in 1969 and the type served for around fifty years.

Variants

Royal Navy ASW marks HAS.1 to HAS.6 evolved into the ASaC.7 airborne early-warning 'baggers', alongside the RAF HAR.3 SAR variant and the Commando-assault HC.4 troop carrier.

Where you'll see it

A backbone of British military aviation, Fleet Air Arm ASW and AEW Sea Kings flew from RNAS Culdrose while Commando HC.4s were associated with RNAS Yeovilton. The RAF's yellow HAR.3s became the public face of UK mountain and maritime SAR until the Royal Navy retired its last Sea King in 2018.

Related aircraft

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