Westland Widgeon (fixed wing)

The Westland Widgeon was a British light aircraft of the 1920s, a single engined parasol monoplane built in small numbers before Westland abandoned production. It was one of two designs, with the Woodpigeon biplane, that Westland produced for the 1924 Air Ministry light aircraft competition at Lympne, which asked for a two seat machine with an engine of 1100 cc or less. The Widgeon first flew at Yeovil on 22 September 1924 with a 35 hp Blackburne Thrush engine, was badly underpowered and crashed on the first day of the trials. It was rebuilt with a 60 hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet as the Widgeon II, almost 40 mph faster, and recorded the fastest average speed in the 1926 Grosvenor Cup race. A simpler production Widgeon III followed in 1927 and the metal fuselage Widgeon IIIA; only 26 of all types were built before production stopped.