London Helicopter Guide
The first helicopters over Britain: Hoverfly to Dragonfly

History

The first helicopters over Britain: Hoverfly to Dragonfly

How wartime Sikorsky R-4s led to RAF, Navy and Westland-built helicopters

Hero image: CDR John C. Redfield, USCGR, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

How wartime Sikorsky R-4s led to RAF, Navy and Westland-built helicopters.

Key facts

  • Hoverfly I first RAF helicopter, Andover, early 1945 (RAF Museum)
  • Hendon airframe is KL110 with parts of KK995
  • Westland licence-built S-51 (Dragonfly, first flight Oct 1948 per secondary source), then S-55 Whirlwind

In date order

  1. museumsPreserved types in London and Somerset collections
    RAF Museum London (Hoverfly, Sycamore, Wessex HCC4, Sea King HAR3) and The Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare (Sycamore, Whirlwind) - image records only. rafmuseum.org.uk
    Confidence: image record only
  2. 1944 (January)Sikorsky R-4 shipboard trials for the Royal Navy
    US Coast Guard pilot Stewart R. Graham flew a Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly (RN serial FT835) in joint British-American shipboard trials aboard MV Daghestan. Public-domain image description on Commons. commons.wikimedia.org
    Confidence: single source (Commons description); confirm in RN/FAA Museum
  3. 1945 (early)Hoverfly I becomes the first RAF helicopter
    RAF Museum document says the Hoverfly I was the first helicopter used by the RAF, entering service at Andover early in 1945. The Hendon exhibit is KL110 (with parts of KK995), displayed as KK995. rafmuseum.org.uk
    Confidence: secondary (search summary of RAF Museum document; PDF not read directly)

Pictures

Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly (Royal Navy FT835) on MV Daghestan shipboard trials, 1944
Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly (Royal Navy FT835) on MV Daghestan shipboard trials, 1944CDR John C. Redfield, USCGR, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
RAF Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly in flight over England, 1945
RAF Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly in flight over England, 1945Australian armed forces, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
RAF Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly taking off, RAF Andover, 1945
RAF Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly taking off, RAF Andover, 1945Australian armed forces, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
RAF Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly I KK990 at Manchester Ringway, October 1945
RAF Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly I KK990 at Manchester Ringway, October 1945RuthAS, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly at the RAF Museum London, 2010
Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly at the RAF Museum London, 2010Flickr user Les Chatfield : https://www.flickr.com/photos/elsie, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Check first

Historical details differ between sources. We give the source for each entry and say where it is secondary.

Sources and checks

Facts on this page come from these sources, last checked 2026-11-03. Where a source could not be reached or did not say, we left the fact out.

  1. rafmuseum.org.uk rafmuseum.org.uk
  2. rafmuseum.org.uk rafmuseum.org.uk
  3. commons.wikimedia.org commons.wikimedia.org