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5 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Westland Wyvern S.4 VZ765 '181' Stretton 25.06.55 edited-2: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
- 2. Westland Wyvern TF.1 VR137 YVTN 17.07.71 edited-3: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
- 3. Westland Wyvern TF.2 Farnborough 13.09.53 edited-2: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
- 4. Westland Wyvern TF1: Rodw· Public domain
- 5. Westland Wyvern Westland Wyvern T.F. Mk.2 Nov48 (16526001753): San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives· Public domain
what is it?
The Westland Wyvern is a British single-seat carrier-based multi-role strike aircraft built by Westland Aircraft that served in the 1950s, seeing service in the 1956 Suez Crisis. Production Wyverns were powered by a turboprop engine driving large and distinctive contra-rotating propellers, and could carry aerial torpedoes.
How to recognise it: 1 turboprop · 13.4 m wingspan
base stats
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 80 years ago, in 1946.
- Top speed is 4.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 13.4 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1946-12-16
- introduced
- 1953
- retired
- 1958
- status
- retired
- number built
- 127
- role
- carrier-based strike aircraft
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- makers
- Westland Aircraft
- engines
- 1× Armstrong Siddeley Python
- crew
- 1
- length
- 12.9 m
- wingspan
- 13.4 m
- height
- 4.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 11.1 t
- top speed
- 616 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 8,534 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1817164, Wikipedia: Westland Wyvern (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.