French and British Helicopters

British military forces soon evaluated the Sycamore, which was then produced in quantity as the HR. Mk.14. It entered service in 1953 and served in search and rescue and medical evacuation missions. It also soon entered service with the Royal Australian Navy and the German Air Force and Navy. While the Sycamore was under development, Bristol began developing a tandem-rotor helicopter somewhat similar to the Piasecki "Flying Banana." Known as the Type 173, this aircraft was soon developed into the Type 192 Belvedere, which had a rounded fuselage that looked like a baguette with four-bladed rotors on either end. The Belvedere, designated the HC.1 in Royal Air Force (RAF) service, was delivered in 1961 and saw service in the Middle East and Far East. It suffered from engine reliability problems and its high landing gear made loading cargo in the cabin difficult.

In March 1960, Bristol Helicopters was taken over by Westland. Westland was already the primary British helicopter manufacturer. After World War II, Westland had signed a license to build the Sikorsky S-51 helicopter. Westland significantly modified the design and designated it the WS-51 Dragonfly. The first flight was in October 1948 and in 1950 aircraft were being delivered to the Royal Navy for use aboard aircraft carriers. The Dragonfly HR.Mk1 equipped the Royal Navy's first helicopter squadron. Westland also produced the Dragonfly for civilian customers and the militaries of Japan, Iraq, France, Yugoslavia and Ceylon. The WS-51 Dragonfly was the first British-built helicopter to gain a certificate of airworthiness.

Westland began licensed manufacture of the Sikorsky S-55, designated the WS-55 Whirlwind, in November 1950. The aircraft served in the RAF and the Royal Navy, and also in the Queen's Flight and in civil service. Westland also soon licensed the Sikorsky S-58, which it produced as the popular Wessex. It was initially used as an anti-submarine helicopter, but soon employed by the Royal Marine Commandos and the RAF. By the mid-1960s, Westland also began producing the Sikorsky S-61 Sea King. The company also began cooperative production of its own helicopter design, the WG.3, with the French aerospace company Aérospatiale.

In 1963, Westland began work on the Lynx tactical utility helicopter, which began flying by 1970 and proved highly successful in British military service. It saw action in the Falklands War in 1981 and later in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. In the 1980s, Westland began work with the Italian firm Agusta on a replacement for the prolific Sea King. This led to the creation of European Helicopter Industries in June 1980. The new helicopter, designated the EH.101 Merlin, first flew in October 1987, but did not enter production until the mid-1990s. It has a five-bladed main rotor, a retractable landing gear, and three engines, and serves in various roles such as a submarine hunter and a utility version. A civil version, for offshore oil rig use, can seat 30 passengers.

In France, the aviation industry had been taken over by the government before World War II. After the war, two companies, Sud-Est and Sud-Ouest, pursued various helicopter projects. Sud-Ouest produced the small Djinn for the French Army. One model, the SO-1221 Djinn, was the most successful tip-jet helicopter design and one of the few to be put into production, with a total of 178 being built. Sud-Est developed the three-seat Alouette I prototype. The Alouette II, which first flew in March 1955, had a turbine engine and quickly broke the world helicopter altitude record. It entered production one year later in a five-seat version and soon became a highly popular helicopter. Sud-Ouest and Sud-Est were merged into Sud-Aviation in 1957, and the company eventually produced over 1,600 examples of the Alouette II and its derivatives. They were supplied to military and civilian users in approximately 50 countries. A high-altitude version dubbed the Lama was also produced in France and Brazil and manufactured under license in India by Hindustan, which named it the Cheetah. The Cheetah was used heavily in the Himalayan Mountains for various tasks, including rescuing injured mountain-climbers.

During the early 1960s Sud-Ouest manufactured several Sikorsky helicopters under license and developed the Puma medium twin turbine-powered helicopter. The Puma became popular with military and civilian users and found widespread use in the offshore oil industry. In 1970, Sud-Ouest and several other firms merged into a single company named Aérospatiale. The firm continued with a number of new designs, including the Gazelle, as a replacement for the Alouette, and the Dauphin. Both helicopters placed the dangerous tail rotor inside an opening in the tail (this was called a "Fenestron tail") where it was less likely that the spinning blades would strike objects on the ground or chop off heads. The Dauphin has proven popular and is even operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. Aérospatiale also produced the highly popular six-seat Ecureuil (Squirrel).

In 1992, Aérospatiale joined with the German helicopter firm MBB to create Eurocopter Holdings. Both companies were already participating in the four-nation NH.90 helicopter project, along with the Italian firm Agusta and the German firm Fokker. The NH.90 was developed as a multi-purpose helicopter capable of serving as a troop transport, and in anti-submarine and anti-shipping roles.

The end of the Cold War and the diminished demand for military helicopters are the primary reasons that many European firms are forming consortia to build their new helicopters, and this trend shows no signs of changing.

-Dwayne A. Day

Sources and Further Reading:

Ahnstrom, D.N. The Complete Book of Helicopters. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1971.

Donald, David, general editor. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes and Noble, Orbis Publishing, 1997.

Dowling, John, RAF Helicopters:  The First 20 Years, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1992.

Heatley, Michael. The Illustrated History of Helicopters. New York: Bison Books, 1985.

Hewson, Robert, "EH Industries EH101." World Airpower Journal, 21, (Summer 1995): 24-33.

Lake, Jon, "Sikorsky S-61/H3 Sea King Variant Briefing." World Airpower Journal, 26, (Autumn/Fall 1996): 116-137.

Lundh, Lennart. Sikorsky H-34. Atglen, Penn.: Schiffer, 1998.

Simpson, Rod. Airlife's Helicopters & Rotorcraft. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife, 1998.