Saunders-Roe Skeeter

The Saunders-Roe Skeeter was a British two-seat training and scout helicopter, developed and built by Saunders-Roe of Cowes and Southampton. The design began as the Cierva W.14 Skeeter, whose first prototype flew at Eastleigh in October 1948, and Saunders-Roe took over the work when it assumed Cierva's helicopter contracts in January 1951. Early versions were underpowered and suffered from ground resonance, which a redesigned undercarriage and revised damper fittings on the rotor head eventually cured. The production Skeeter AOP.12 had a 215 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major engine, and deliveries began in 1958. It was the first helicopter used by the British Army Air Corps and it also served with the German Army and German Navy. In all, 78 were built alongside 10 prototypes. When the helicopter businesses of Bristol, Fairey and Saunders-Roe were merged with Westland around 1960 and 1961, Westland inherited the Skeeter, and the abandoned plan for a turbine version fed into the Westland Scout and Wasp.