Westland Wasp Helicopter

Westland Wasp Helicopter
Originally uploaded by f0rbe5

The Westland Wasp was a small first-generation, gas turbine-powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. It came from the same P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout and was based on the earlier piston-engined Saro Skeeter. It fulfilled the "MAnned Torpedo-Carrying Helicopter" (MATCH) requirement of the Royal Navy for a helicopter small enough to land on the deck of a frigate and carry a useful load of two homing torpedoes. Wasp was originally to be called the Sea Scout, differing mainly in design details. It had a unique 4-wheeled castering undercarriage that allowed it to be manoeuvred on small, pitching flightdecks. It also had the ability of 'negative pitch' from the rotor-blades, enabling it to 'adhere' to the deck until lashings were attached. Additional fuel tankage was installed in the cabin doors and the tail and main rotor blades were foldable to allow stowage in the small hangars fitted to the first generation of helicopter-carrying escorts. It was fitted with a winch above the starboard rear door, and also had the capacity to carry underslung loads from the semi-automatic cargo release unit mounted under the fuselage. With the capacity to seat three passengers, the Wasp was useful for short-range transport missions, and for casevac with room for one stretcher fitted across the rear cabin area. Later modifications included the installation of large inflatable emergency floats in sponsons on either side of the cabin to prevent capsizing of the top-heavy aircraft in the event of ditching. - from Wikipedia. I was one of three rear-seat passengers in one in 1977 (one pilot and one passenger up-front) whilst practicing auto-rotations. It was an uncomfortable experience, with a poor performance, particularly in the turn. I was glad that later, most of my flying time was in a Lynx, its much-more powerful successor. This example, in the Antarctic colours of HMS Endurance, can be seen at the Imperial War Museum's site at RAF Duxford.

Uploaded by f0rbe5 on 13 Mar 08, 9.32AM PDT.

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