Westland WS-51 Dragonfly

WS-51 Dragonfly

Dragonfly HR.3 of 705 Naval Air Squadron Royal Navy in 1955
Role	Rescue or communications helicopter
Manufacturer	Westland Aircraft
First flight	5 October 1948
Introduction	1950
Status	Retired
Primary users	Royal Navy Royal Air Force
Produced	1949–1954
Number built	133
Developed from	Sikorsky H-5
Variants	Westland Widgeon

The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was a license-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51.

Design and development

In December 1946 an agreement was signed between Westland Aircraft and Sikorsky to allow a British version of the S-51 to be manufactured under license in the United Kingdom. These would be powered by the 500 hp Alvis Leonides radial engine. A modified version was also developed by Westland as the Westland Widgeon, but it was commercially unsuccessful.

Operational history

The Dragonfly entered service with the Royal Navy in 1950 in the air-sea rescue role. A number were also used by the Royal Air Force for casualty evacuation. It was replaced in British service by the Westland Whirlwind, another derivative of a Sikorsky design, in the late 1950s.

Fifty-one civilian WS-51s were produced. Examples were used by Pest Control Ltd for crop spraying and others were flown as executive transports by Silver City Airways, Evening Standard Newspapers and Fairey Aviation. Exported aircraft operated in Japan, Belgian Congo, Mexico and Norway.^[1]

Variants

Westland/Sikorsky WS-51: Prototype.
Dragonfly HR.1: Air-sea search and rescue helicopter for the Royal Navy powered by a 540 hp (400 kW) Alvis 50 radial piston engine. 13 built, some modified later as HR.5s.
Dragonfly HC.2: Casualty evacuation helicopter for the Royal Air Force similar to the commercial Mark 1A, 2 built.
Dragonfly HR.3: Air-sea search and rescue helicopter for the Royal Navy. Similar to the Dragonfly HR.1, but fitted with all-metal rotor blades, 71 built some later modified as HR.5s.
Dragonfly HC.4: Casualty evacuation helicopter for the RAF similar to the Dragonfly HR.3 with all-metal rotor blades, 12 built.
Dragonfly HR.5: Air-sea search and rescue helicopter for the Royal Navy similar to the Dragonfly HR.3. Modified from HR.1 and HR.3.
Westland-Sikorsky WS-51 Mk.1A: Civil transport helicopter powered by a 520 hp (388 kW) Alvis Leonides 521/1 radial piston engine. Built by Westland in the United Kingdom, 36 built.
Westland-Sikorsky WS-51 Mk.1B: Civil transport helicopter powered by a 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior B4 radial piston engine, 15 built.

Operators

Military and Government Operators

Egypt

Egyptian Air Force^[1]

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Police Force^[1]

Italy

Italian Air Force^[1]

Thailand

Royal Thai Air Force^[2]

United Kingdom

Empire Test Pilots' School
Royal Air Force^[3]
- Far East Casualty Evacuation Flight RAF^[4]
- No. 194 Squadron RAF^[5]
Royal Navy^[6]
- Britannia Royal Naval College/Britannia Helicopter Flight^[7]
- 700 Naval Air Squadron^[7]
- 701 Naval Air Squadron^[8]
- 705 Naval Air Squadron^[8]
- 727 Naval Air Squadron^[7]
- 728 Naval Air Squadron^[7]
- 744 Naval Air Squadron^[7]
- 771 Naval Air Squadron^[7]

Yugoslavia

SFR Yugoslav Air Force^[9]

Civil Operators

British European Airways Sikorsky S-51 in 1953

Belgium

Sabena^[10]

United Kingdom

Survivors

HR.5 WG751 at the Chatham Historic Dockyard

WS-51 Mk.1A in Royal Thai Air Force Museum in December 2014

+data ^[11]

Dragonfly HR.1 VZ962 on display at the Ta'Qali Museum, Malta.
Dragonfly HR.3 WG725 in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia
Dragonfly HR.5 VX595 on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Somerset, United Kingdom
Dragonfly HR.5 WG719 on display at The Helicopter Museum, Somerset, United Kingdom.
Dragonfly HR.5 WG724 on display at the North East Aircraft Museum, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom.
Dragonfly HR.5 WG751 on display at the Chatham Historic Dockyard, Kent, United Kingdom.
Dragonfly HR.5 8-1 on display at the Aviodrome, Lelystad, Netherlands.
Dragonfly HR.5 WH991 on display at the Yorkshire Air Museum, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Dragonfly HR.5 WN493 on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Somerset, United Kingdom.
Dragonfly HR.5 WN499 on display at AeroVenture, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Dragonfly HR.5 WP495 on display at RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire, United Kingdom. Marked as G-AJOV.
Dragonfly HR.5 on display at the Sri Lanka Air Force Museum, SLAF Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
Westland/Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly on display at the Museu Eduardo André Matarazzo, Bebedouro, SP, Brazil.
Westland-Sikorsky WS-51 Mk.1A H1-4/96 (cn WA/H/120) at Royal Thai Air Force Museum, Don Muang AFB, Thailand
Westland-Sikorsky WS-51 Mk.1B 11503 on display at the Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum, Belgrade, Serbia.

Specifications (Dragonfly HR.1)

Data from ^[12]

General characteristics

Crew: 1 (pilot)
Capacity: 3 (passengers)
Length: 57 ft 6½ in (17.54 m)
Main rotor diameter: × 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Height: 12 ft 11½ in (3.95 m)
Main rotor area: 1809.56 ft² (168.11 m²)
Empty weight: 4380 lb (1987 kg)
Gross weight: 5870 lb (2663 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Alvis Leonides 50 radial piston, 540 hp (403 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 95 mph (153 km/h)
Range: 300 miles (483 km)
Service ceiling: 12,400 ft (3780 m)

References

Citations

1 2 3 4 5 Jackson, 1974, pp 618-619
↑ "THE WORLD'S AIR FORCES 1955 pg. 658". flightglobal. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
↑ "World Air Forces 1955 pg. 631". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
↑ James 1991, p. 308.
↑ Jefford 1988, p. 134.
1 2 "Westland S-5I". Flightglobal Insight. 1953. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Howard/Burrow/Myall 2011, pp.11–35
1 2 "Westland Dragonfly HR5 (WN493)". Fleet Air Arm. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
↑ "THE WORLD'S AIR FORCES 1955 pg. 668". flightglobal. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
↑ "Helicopters in Civil Operation pg. 388". flightglobal. 21 March 1958. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
↑ "Westland Dragonfly". Demobbed. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
↑ Orbis 1985, page 3080

Bibliography

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing.
Howard, Lee; Burrow, Mick; Myall, Eric (2011). Fleet Air Arm Helicopters since 1943. Air-Britain Historians Limited. ISBN 978-0-85130-304-8.
Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft Since 1919 - Volume Three. Putnam & Company Limited. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
James, D (1991). Westland Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 9780851778471.
Jefford MBE, Wg Cdr C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westland Dragonfly.

Westland Dragonfly entry in the helis.com database
Pictorial of a Westland Dragonfly Restoration.

Westland Aircraft / Westland Helicopters

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