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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0357.PDF
73 T, •ch 58 Helicopters of the World ... Westland Aircraft, Ltd. Yeovil, Somerset. Widgeon The Widgeon five-seater heli-copter has been designed for three basic roles—passenger-carrying, rescue from seaor mountain, and ambulance work—but it is equally suitable for photography, sur-vey, freight-carrying and many other purposes for which helicopters of its classare often utilized. ; The cabin has a floor area of 24 sq ft.The fitting of the three rear and two adjust- able forward seats has been designed sothat they can be quickly and simply re- moved when the aircraft is required forroles other than passenger-carrying. The side-by-side front seating is especiallyadvantageous when the helicopter is used for pilot training, for which role dual con-trols are fitted. For the standard Widgeon power is pro-vided by an Alvis Leonides 521/1 engine, Above and right, Westland Whirlwind. mounted with the crankshaft vertical, inthe centre section of the fuselage. Cooling air is passed over the engine by a fan draw-ing air from the intake grilles on the rotor pylon and exhausting through the exitports on the sides of the fuselage. A gauze- covered air intake for the engine is on theright-hand side of the engine bay. A spring-loaded valve admits air from theengine bay should the external intake be- come blocked with snow or ice, and anintake filter can be fitted if required. All-metal main rotor blades, with arobust extruded leading-edge spar and light-alloy trailing-edge pockets, are afeature—as on all Westland helicopters. Each blade is matched to master bladesand has the advantage of individual inter- changeability without the need to replacea complete blade set if one is damaged. The blades can be folded backwards toreduce storage space. The vertical shaft from the engine drivesthrough a centrifugal clutch, incorporating an engine cooling fan, to the main gearbox.This has two-stage epicyclic gears giving Below and right, Westland Widgeon.
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