Westland Limousine

The Westland Limousine was a British light transport aeroplane built by Westland Aircraft in 1919 and the early 1920s, the company's first commercial design. It was a single-engined biplane with an enclosed passenger cabin, and the pilot sat behind in a raised seat so that his head could rise through the cabin roof. The first aircraft flew in July 1919, and two early aircraft flew an experimental express air mail service between Croydon and Le Bourget in 1920, while two others were used by Instone Air Line on its routes from London to Paris and Brussels. The larger five-passenger Limousine III, powered by a 450 horsepower Napier Lion engine, won the Air Ministry prize of 7,500 pounds in the 1920 Commercial Aircraft Competition, although only two were built. Several Limousines then pioneered air transport in Newfoundland, carrying mail and passengers and spotting seals and fish until the end of 1923.