London Helicopter Guide
Westland, Yeovil and the British helicopter industry

History

Westland, Yeovil and the British helicopter industry

From Sikorsky licences to Wessex, Sea King, Lynx and AgustaWestland/Leonardo

Hero image: Phil Hollman, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Sikorsky licences to Wessex, Sea King, Lynx and AgustaWestland/Leonardo.

Key facts

  • Westland Helicopters formed 1961 (secondary)
  • Lynx G-LYNX record 11 Aug 1986
  • AgustaWestland 2000/2001 (sources differ), Leonardo 2016

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. 1955 (25 July) to 1956 (31 May)BEA Waterloo helicopter shuttle to London Airport
    ianVisits (citing Flight 1956 archive) says the shuttle used Sir Kay and Sir Ector (Westland-Sikorsky S-55, five passengers each) and carried 3,822 passengers before closing; a second source gives the same dates and total. The site was needed for the South Bank Centre. ianvisits.co.uk
    Confidence: two secondary sources agree; primary Flight page not retrieved
  3. 1959 (8 April)First landing at the new Westland Heliport, Battersea
    Westland Widgeon G-ANLW flown by John Fay reported as first aircraft to land (secondary sources). airhistory.net
    Confidence: single secondary source
  4. 1959 (23 April)London Heliport (Westland Heliport) opens at Battersea
    Built by W. & C. French. British Pathe newsreel "Air News: London Gets Helicopter Port", issue 59/34, dated 27 April 1959. learningonscreen.ac.uk
    Confidence: newsreel record located; 23 April date from Wikipedia citing BUFVC - confirm on BUFVC/Pathe page
  5. 1986 (11 August)Westland Lynx G-LYNX sets a world helicopter speed record
    Commons description: demonstrator built 1979 set the record on 11 August 1986. commons.wikimedia.org
    Confidence: single source (Commons description); confirm via Westland history

Pictures

Helicopter view of Waterloo and the South Bank, London, 2006
Helicopter view of Waterloo and the South Bank, London, 2006Phil Hollman, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Battersea and the London Heliport area, early 1960s (Commons title "Battersea, London 1960"; description gives 1961)
Battersea and the London Heliport area, early 1960s (Commons title "Battersea, London 1960"; description gives 1961)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Westland Whirlwind at the SBAC Show, Farnborough, 12 September 1959
Westland Whirlwind at the SBAC Show, Farnborough, 12 September 1959TSRL, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Westland Lynx G-LYNX, world helicopter speed record aircraft, Farnborough 1986
Westland Lynx G-LYNX, world helicopter speed record aircraft, Farnborough 1986Dick Gilbert, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Westland Wessex HCC4 (Queen's Flight type) at the RAF Museum, Hendon
Westland Wessex HCC4 (Queen's Flight type) at the RAF Museum, Hendon[[User:Ad Meskens|Ad Meskens You are free to use this picture for any purpose as long as you credit its author, Ad Meskens. Example: © Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons If you use this work outside of the Wikimedia projects, a message or a copy is very much appreciated. This image is not in the public domain. A statement such as "From Wikimedia Commons" or similar is not by itself sufficient. If you do not provide clear attribution to the author you do not comply with the terms of the file's license and you may not use this file. If you are unable or unwilling to provide attribution you should contact Ad Meskens to negotiate a different license. ]], CC BY-SA 4.0, 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. gracesguide.co.uk gracesguide.co.uk
  2. leonardo.com leonardo.com
  3. rafmuseum.org.uk rafmuseum.org.uk
  4. ianvisits.co.uk ianvisits.co.uk
  5. airhistory.net airhistory.net
  6. learningonscreen.ac.uk learningonscreen.ac.uk
  7. commons.wikimedia.org commons.wikimedia.org