Westland Whirlwind

what is it?

The Westland Whirlwind helicopter is a British licence-built version of the U.S. Sikorsky S-55/H-19 Chickasaw. It primarily served with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in anti-submarine and search and rescue roles. It was also exported to other countries, and the Whirlwind was succeeded by the turbine powered Westland Wessex (based on the Sikorsky H-34) which was developed from the H-19/Whirlwind.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine · 16.2 m main rotor

base stats

• speed 175 km/htop speed
• size 3,538 kgmax take-off weight
• built 360made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 73 years ago, in 1953.
• 🚗Rotor of 16.2 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1953-08

introduced

1954

retired

1982

status

retired

number built

360

role

helicopter

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Westland Aircraft

engines

1× Alvis Leonides Major 755

crew

2

length

12.7 m

rotor diameter

16.2 m

height

4.8 m

max take-off weight

3,538 kg

top speed

175 km/h

range

—

ceiling

3,962 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family