Westland Wasp
Westland Helicopters · United Kingdom · first flew 1962 · helicopter
The Westland Wasp is a small British turbine-powered shipboard anti-submarine helicopter, produced by Westland from the Saunders-Roe P.531 programme.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, rotary |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × turboshaft, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Winch above the starboard rear door and a cargo release unit under the fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Unique four-wheeled castering undercarriage, allowing the aircraft to be manoeuvred on small pitching flight decks
- Foldable tail boom and main rotor blades for stowage in small frigate hangars
- Winch above the starboard rear door and a cargo release unit under the fuselage
Look for the four-wheeled castoring undercarriage and the small two-crew cabin. The length given is the fuselage only, at 9.24 m.
Specifications
- The Westland Wasp has a length of 9.24 m (30 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 9.83 m (32 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 193 km/h (120 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
The first prototype P.531 flew on 20 July 1958, and the two pre-production Wasps first flew on 28 October 1962. It was based on the earlier Saunders-Roe Skeeter and fulfilled a Royal Navy need for a helicopter small enough to land on a frigate and carry two homing torpedoes.
Variants
The Wasp was essentially a navalised Scout, and was originally to be called the Sea Scout. Sea Scout HAS.1 was the original Royal Navy designation, and the Brazilian Navy flew it as the UH-2.
Where you'll see it
133 were built, 98 of them for the Royal Navy, and it was exported to Brazil, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa. In 1982 Wasps fired AS.12 missiles at the Argentine submarine Santa Fe, and the last Royal Navy Wasp was withdrawn in 1988.
Related aircraft
- Westland Wessex HC.2
- Westland Wessex HU.5
- Westland Wessex HAS.3
- Wessex
- Bell YOH-4
- Boeing CH-46A Sea Knight
- Boeing Vertol HH-46A Sea Knight
- Dornier Do 32
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