Sikorsky / Westland Whirlwind. Photo. Characteristics.
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Sikorsky / Westland Whirlwind. Photo. Characteristics.

Sikorsky / Westland Whirlwind. Photo. Characteristics. 

 

United States, Japan and the UK

A typeMultipurpose helicopter

Capacity: A crew of two and eight to twelve passengers

A very small number of machines achieved the same success as the Sikorsky S-55 helicopter, built in unprecedented numbers for helicopters: over 1700 * in the United States, Great Britain and Japan. Designed to place the cargo compartment directly below the rotor hub to avoid alignment problems with various loading options, the S-55 had an engine mounted in the bow under a two-piece bonnet. Its power was transmitted to the propeller through a gearbox using an inclined propeller shaft.

The crew cabin was located above the cargo compartment, with the pilots sitting on the sides of the propeller shaft. The helicopter was used by three main types of troops and the US Coast Guard. The first serial copies (modification H04S-1) were transferred to the US Navy in late December 1950. Subsequent minor changes in the tail boom and the stabilizer led to the modification of the H-19B for the US Air Force, which also used the more powerful Cyclone engine from Wright instead of the Wasp engine. The modification for the army under the designation H-19D "Chickasaw" (Chickasaw), and for the Marine Infantry H04S-3 and HRS-3 were exactly the modification of the helicopter that formed the basis for serial production.

Description: https://web.archive.org/web/20160417161741im_/http:/avia.pro/sites/default/files/102_rn_westland_whirlwind_helicopter_at_benta.jpg

The company "Westland Helikopters» (Westland helicopters) built his first helicopter license "Whirlwind» (Whirlwind - vortex) in 1952 year for ten years to put in the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Force (FAA) .Some more 400 helicopter modifications. Perhaps the best of them were fitted with turboshaft engine variants HAR 9 (for FAA) and 10 (for the Royal Air Force), which remained in operation until 1970-ies.

* For reference: 3307 Mi-4 helicopters were built in the USSR. - Approx. ed.

Basic data

Aircraft performance characteristics:

Maximum speed: 180 km / h

Flight range: 578 km

Power point: R1340-40 / -57 Wasp of Pratt-Whitney, R-1300-3 Cyclone of Wright, Leonides Major 755 of Elvis (to Whirlwind 2nd Ser.) Or Rolls-Royce Gnome N 1000 (on Whirlwind HAR 10)

Dimensions:

Length: 12,88 m

Main rotor diameter: 16,16 m

Height: 4,07 m

The weight:

Empty: 2381 kg

Maximum takeoff: 3538 kg

Power: 600 l. from. (447 kW), 800 l. from. (596 kW), 750 l. from. (559 kW) and 1050 l. from. Shaft (783 kW) respectively

Date of first flight:

November 10, 1949

The surviving airworthy modifications: H-19, H04S and "Whirlwind» HAR 2 and 10

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