This comprehensive book provides a detailed history of Westland from its earliest days. The text was first published in 1991 and revised and updated in 1995. The author was fortunate in acquiring the collaboration of Harald Penrose who for so many years was the Westland test pilot. This new Fonthill edition will be a welcome addition to aviation history.
Westland began by building numerous de Havilland, Short, Sopwith, and Vickers types before embarking on its own designs, beginning with the N.1B single-seat seaplane for the Admiralty. There followed a wide variety of types, military and civil, some long-forgotten and others still remembered with affection. These included the ungainly Walrus, the impossible-to-describe Dreadnought, the Widgeons, several Pterodactyls, the beautifully proportioned Wizard, the famous Wapiti, the Wallace, Lysander, Whirlwind, Welkin and Wyvern. The first aeroplanes to fly over Everest came from the Westland stable.
Now AgustaWestland, part of the Finmeccanica group, Westland concentrates on helicopters and has produced a successful family which serves the Royal Navy and the RAF as well as many of the world's armed forces.The technical and operational histories of all these types are fully detailed in this volume which is profusely illustrated with photographs and general arrangement drawings.
