Sikorsky S-55/H19 Chickasaw & Westland Whirlwind by Adrian M. Balch

The Sikorsky S-55 and the British Whirlwind

Adrian M. Balch has brought together in one volume the American machine and its licensed offspring from British factories. The customer receives a printed title, not a set to build.

The helicopter that changed transport by air

The S-55 introduced a layout that proved to be a turning point: the engine moved into the nose and drove upward to the rotor through a transmission, so the whole of the cabin space stayed free for cargo or for passengers. For the first time there was a rotary-wing machine that could be taken seriously as a means of transport. It proved itself in casualty evacuation and in landing troops, and Europe soon noticed its capabilities too. In Britain it was built under the name Whirlwind by Westland, which gave the later versions turbine power. British machines served with the fleet for rescue over the sea and for anti-submarine work, and they were not missing from the colors used for carrying members of the royal family either.

Thematic areas

• The engine in the nose and the free cabin space
• The American versions and their military tasks
• British licensed production and the move to a turbine
• Rescue, anti-submarine and ceremonial use
• Foreign operators of both forms

A publication for these readers

The volume is useful for modelers who want to tell the piston and the turbine forms apart by their external differences. It will also appeal to anyone interested in the beginnings of practical helicopter operation on both sides of the Atlantic. It also serves as an overview of how rotary-wing equipment established itself in everyday service.