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The Westland Widgeon was a helicopter developed by Westland Aircraft as a private venture improvement on the
Westland WS-51 Dragonfly The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51. Design and development On 19 January 1947 an agreement was signed between Westland Aircraft an ...
.


Design and development

Westland Aircraft decided to make a private venture improvement on the Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter, which was a licensed
Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923 and was among the first companies to manufacture helicopters for civilian and military use. Pre ...
design, by increasing the cabin capacity and replacing the Dragonfly's rotor head, blades and gearbox with the units used in the
Westland Whirlwind Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, ...
. Three Dragonfly Series 1As were converted to WS-51 Series 2 Widgeon specifications and the first one flew on 23 August 1955. One of these conversions, registration G-ANLW, was the first helicopter to land at the London Heliport on 8 April 1959, and later appeared in the 1971 film, ''
When Eight Bells Toll ''When Eight Bells Toll'' is a first-person narrative novel written by Scottish people, Scottish author Alistair MacLean and published in 1966 in literature, 1966. It marked MacLean's return after a three-year gap, following the publication of ...
''. In 1957, there was a plan to take up to 24 existing Fleet Air Arm Dragonflies to Dragonfly HC.7 standard (as the Naval Widgeon was to become) but this was abandoned and it contributed to the decision to stop progress.


Operators

; * Brazilian Navy ;
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
*
Royal Ceylon Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...
; * Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force ; *
Royal Jordanian Air Force The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; ar, سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, Silāḥ ul-Jawu al-Malakī 'al-Urdunī) is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. History Early days Jordan gained independence in 19 ...
; * Nigerian Air Force - operated a single requisitioned ex-Bristow Widgeon during the Biafran War. ; *
Bristow Helicopters Bristow Helicopters Limited is a British civil helicopter operator originally based at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland, which is currently a part of the U.S.-based Bristow Group (, S&P 600 component) which in turn has its corporate headquarters in ...
''Flight International'' 11 July 1968, p. 55.


Specifications (Widgeon)


See also

* List of rotorcraft


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Apostolo, Giorgio. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters''. New York: Bonanza Books, 1984. . * * James, Derek N. ''Westland Aircraft since 1915''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1991. .
"Widgeon and Whirlwind —with power by Alvis: A Report on two current Westland developments."
''Flight,'' 1955.

''Flight International'', 13 July 1967. pp. 57–71.

''Flight International'', 11 July 1968. pp. 48–60.


External links

* Westlan
Widgeon
pages at helis.com database {{DEFAULTSORT:Westland Widgeon (Helicopter) 1950s British helicopters Widgeon (helicopter) Single-engined piston helicopters