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.

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.

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.

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