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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0913.PDF
23 DECEMBER 2, 1926 WESTLAND AIRCRAFT WORKS. WESTLAND CO. THE Westland Aircraft Works came into existence in 1915when the exigencies of the time decided the directors of Fetters, Ltd., of Yeovil, to offer the services of their firmto the Admiralty. Their offer was accepted, and they were •asked, in addition to prosecuting the manufacture of oil-engines for camp and ship lighting, as well as lorry components •and shells, to prepare for aircraft construction on an expandingbasis. For this purpose the present aircraft branch of Petters, Ltd., was formed. The organisation was entrusted to Mr. R. A. Bruce (thenLieut., R.N.V.R.), who was released by the Admiralty for this purpose in July, 1915.Work commenced at once. Premises had to be built, machine tools installed, and an entire new staff and work-people recruited ; but, in spite of this, in January, 1916, the first seaplanes—Short 225 Sunbeams—were delivered tothe Government. The first contracts were entirely confined to seaplanes, but later Sopwith 14- Strutters and D.H.4Rolls-engined aeroplanes were ordered. During the course of the year, therefore, the premises of the factory wereincreased, in order to cope with the growing volume of work with which the firm was being entrusted. Additionalland attaching to the works was acquired for the purpose of laying out an aerodrome. |L_" It is interesting to observe that up to this point the mainactivities of the firm had been directed towards construction and assembling as opposed to design, for they had beenprovided with drawings and schedules that were very complete. When, however, the " Liberty " engines began to be delivered which—K.I6 and N.I7—were designed by the firm. Thesewere succeeded by a single-seater land fighter, and two-seater land fighter—the Westland " Wagtail " and Westland" Weasel " respectively. These were originally designed for the A.B.C. " Wasp " and the " Dragonfly " engines, butlater were replaced by the " Lynx " and the " Jupiter " or " Jaguar " respectively, With the Armistice, attention was immediately turned tothe design of a reliable commercial aeroplane, and by July. 1919, the first Westland limousine was in the air. Thiswas purely a commercial machine, designed and built throughout for passenger and goods carrying, and was oneof the very earliest machines of this type as compared with the adapted war machines. These machines gave excellentservice, and were used in this country on the London-Paris service, and also for special work abroad. In 1920 theAir Ministry held a competition for civil aircraft, and an enlarged edition of the Westland limousine fitted withNapier " Lion " engine was designed and built for the competition and won the first prize of ^7,500 for the Com-mercial Aircraft, Small Class. This machine accommodated five passengers and luggage in addition to the pilot, andhad a maximum speed of 118 m.p.h. When the British Government held their Light Aeroplane Competition thefirm produced the Westland " Wood Pigeon," which was a highly successful example of its class. The Westland Aircraft Works progressive policy has beenmaintained. They are continually at work experimenting on the efficacy of new designs, and a 4-ft. wind channelhas been constructed with this end in view. The Westland "Yeovil." in'increasing numbers in this country, it became necessaryto re-design machines for this purpose. The Westland aircraft firm had recently made a large batch of D.H.9machines, and the Aircraft Manufacturing Company were in process of re-designing these to accommodate Rolls-Royceengines. In order to liberate the Aircraft Manufacturing Company for the completion of the production drawings ofthe twin-engined D.H.10 aeroplanes, the W'estland Aircraft Works were entrusted with the completion of the productiondrawings of the D.H.9A machines, and were made responsible for designs and modifications of all D.H.9A work from thatdate. From the drawings thus produced by the firm a large number of other contractors built aeroplanes of this type,and very large numbers were turned out by the Westland Aircraft Works prior to the Armistice. In the meanwhile the Air Ministry were asking for designsof certain types of fighting scout seaplanes, two examples of Governmental work and experimental work, therefore, isthe present field of activity of the company. They have increased their scope in the latter section by securing theservices of Capt. Hill, who is perfecting his designs for the new " tailless aeroplane." A light aeroplane of this classhas already been built, and its trials were attended by remarkable success, for Capt. Hill flew the machine inaltitudes that would have made other aeroplanes uncon- trollable. Considerable experimental work is, however,necessary in order to demonstrate the possibility of this design for grea.ter wing loading and higher speeds, and newdesigns based on such requirements are being completed so that experimental machines may be tested out on theWestland aerodrome. Amongst other machines produced at the WestlandAircraft Works is the Yeovil day bomber. It marks an important stage in the development of this
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