Whirlwind
Westland · United Kingdom · first flew 1953 · helicopter
The Westland Whirlwind was Britain's licence-built Sikorsky S-55, the workhorse helicopter of the RAF and Royal Navy through the 1950s and 60s. Later marks swapped the nose piston engine for a Gnome turboshaft.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, rotary |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × turboshaft, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 12.7 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Nose-mounted engine with the cockpit perched high above the main cabin
- Four spindly quadricycle undercarriage legs
- Drooping tail boom with a small tail rotor — classic 1950s Sikorsky lines
Note the deep, boxy cabin with the engine in the nose and the two-man cockpit sitting high above it, four stalky undercarriage legs, and a slim drooped tail boom. The three-blade rotor and humpbacked profile mark it apart from the bigger Wessex.
Specifications
- The Whirlwind has a length of 12.7 m (42 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 16.15 m (53 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 175 km/h (109 mph).
- Typical crew: 2-3.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Westland, already building the S-51 as the Dragonfly, acquired S-55 rights and flew the prototype HAR1 on 21 August 1953 at Yeovil. Some 364 were built through 1966, and from 1959 the Rolls-Royce Gnome turbine transformed performance in the definitive HAR10.
Variants
Piston marks (HAR1 to HAS7) used Wasp, Cyclone and Leonides Major engines for naval anti-submarine, transport and rescue work. The turbine HAR10/HCC12 followed, plus the civil WS-55 Series; HCC8 and HCC12 aircraft flew The Queen's Flight.
Where you'll see it
Whirlwinds lifted troops in Malaya and at Suez — the first British helicopter assault — hunted submarines with the Fleet Air Arm, and made the yellow RAF rescue helicopter a household image around Britain's coasts until the Wessex took over in the 1970s. Many survive in UK museums.
Related aircraft
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