Westland WS-51 Dragonfly

The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly was an Anglicised version of the American Sikorsky S-51 helicopter, built by Westland Aircraft under a licence agreement signed on 19 January 1947. Westland replaced the American engine with a British Alvis Leonides radial, and the prototype first flew from Yeovil on 5 October 1948, piloted by Alan Bristow, only sixteen months after work on it had begun. Seventy-two Dragonflies entered service with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in training, air-sea rescue and communications roles, and the first unit equipped with them, 705 Naval Air Squadron, is believed to be the first all-helicopter squadron formed outside the United States. It was the first British-built helicopter used by the navy. Fifty-one civilian examples were also produced, used for crop spraying and as executive transports, and a larger-cabin development, the Westland Widgeon, was commercially unsuccessful.