Westland Wyvern
Wyvern | |
---|---|
Wyvern S.4 | |
Role | strike aircraft
|
National origin | United Kingdom |
Manufacturer | Westland Aircraft |
First flight | 16 December 1946[a] |
Introduction | 1953 |
Retired | 1958 |
Primary user | Royal Navy |
Produced | 1946–1956 |
Number built | 127 |
The Westland Wyvern is a British single-seat
Design and development
The Wyvern began as a Westland project for a naval strike fighter, with the engine located behind the pilot, driving a propeller in the nose via a long shaft that passed under the cockpit floor, similar to the
The original design soon matured into the more conventional Westland W.34, with the 3,500 hp (2,610 kW) Eagle engine in the nose driving large
The prototype W.34; the Wyvern TF.1, first flew at
At around this time, the Eagle engine was cancelled and it was found that there were insufficient pre-production engines available to complete all the prototype and pre-production aircraft. Specification N.12/45 was therefore issued for the Wyvern TF.2, to be powered by a turboprop engine: either the
The first Python-powered TF.2 flew on 22 March 1949 and this aircraft introduced the ejection seat to the Wyvern. Twenty TF.2s were completed to the Python design although after three years of testing what was then a revolutionary aircraft design, a myriad of detailed aerodynamic changes resulted. The Python engine responded poorly to minor throttle adjustments, so control was exercised by running the engine at a constant speed and varying the pitch of the propellers. The aircraft was declared ready for service in 1952,[1] but never reached an operational squadron.[1]
The definitive Wyvern model was the TF.4, later S.4. Initially, 50 S.4s were ordered and were joined by the last 7 TF.2s, which were altered while still under construction. S.4s reached limited shore-based front line service in May 1953 with
Total production was 127 airframes with 124 aircraft completed, as the last three Eagle piston-engined airframes, VR138, -139, and -140, were never completed.[3][4]
Operational history
The first carrier trials were carried out by the first pre-production Wyvern TF.2 aboard HMS Illustrious on 21 June 1950.[5] Despite this, when the Wyvern S.4 entered service with 813 Naval Air Squadron in May 1953, it had not obtained clearance for carrier operations, this being obtained only in April 1954.[6] The Wyvern was in service with the Fleet Air Arm from 1954 to 1958. Wyverns equipped 813 Squadron, 827 Squadron, 830 Squadron and 831 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm.
In September 1954, 813 embarked with their Wyverns on
830 Sqn. took the Wyvern into combat from HMS Eagle, flying 79 sorties[8] during Operation Musketeer, the armed response to the Suez Crisis. Two Wyverns were lost to damage from Egyptian light anti-aircraft fire; the pilots of both aircraft successfully ejected over the sea and were picked up by Eagle's search and rescue helicopter. The squadron returned to the UK on Eagle after this conflict and disbanded in January 1957. Consequently, 813 was the last Wyvern squadron, disbanding on 22 April 1958.[1]
All Wyverns were withdrawn from service by 1958: while in service and testing there were 68 accidents, 39 were lost and there were 13 fatalities, including two RAF pilots and one United States Navy pilot.
Variants
- W.34 Wyvern
- Six prototypes ordered in August 1944, with the first aircraft flown 12 December 1946. Powered by the Rolls-Royce Eagle Mk 22 H-block, piston engine.
- W.34 Wyvern TF.1
- Pre-production aircraft ordered in June 1946, with only seven built of 20 contracted due to the cancellation of the Eagle powerplant.
- W.35 Wyvern TF.2
- The original production version, powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Python turboprop in replacement of the discontinued Eagle piston powerplant seen on the W.34 prototypes. Three prototypes were ordered in February 1946 with a production contract for 20 aircraft issued in September 1947. Only nine production aircraft were built, and the remaining eleven were completed as S.4s.
- W.38 Wyvern T.3
- Two-seat conversion trainer. One prototype serialed VZ739 was ordered in September 1948 and first flown in February 1950.
- W.35 Wyvern TF.4
- The definitive version. 50 were ordered in October 1948, 13 in December 1950, 13 in January 1951 and a final 11 in February 1951. A total of 98 built (including 11 that had started as TF.2s). The model was later redesignated as the S.4.
Survivors
An unflown pre-production aircraft, the last to be fitted with the original Eagle piston engine, (
Operators
- Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm[9]
- 700 Naval Air Squadron
- 703 Naval Air Squadron
- 764 Naval Air Squadron
- 787 Naval Air Squadron
- 813 Naval Air Squadron
- 827 Naval Air Squadron
- 830 Naval Air Squadron
- 831 Naval Air Squadron
- Wyvern Conversion Unit at Royal Naval Air Station Ford
Specifications (Wyvern S.4)
Data from Westland Aircraft since 1915[10]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1 (2 in T.3)
- Length: 42 ft 3 in (12.88 m)
- Wingspan: 44 ft 0 in (13.41 m) (folded 20 ft (6 m)
- Height: 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m) (folded 20 ft (6 m)
- Wing area: 355 sq ft (33.0 m2)
- Empty weight: 15,600 lb (7,076 kg)
- Gross weight: 21,200 lb (9,616 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 24,550 lb (11,136 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Python turboprop engine, 3,560 hp (2,650 kW) +1,100 lbf (4.893 kN) residual thrust
- Propellers: 4-bladed Rotolcontra-rotating, 13 ft (4.0 m) diameter
Performance
- Maximum speed: 383 mph (616 km/h, 333 kn) at sea level, 380 mph (612 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
- Range: 910 mi (1,460 km, 790 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 28,000 ft (8,500 m)
- Rate of climb: 2,350 ft/min (11.9 m/s)
- Wing loading: 59.7 lb/sq ft (291 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.194 eshp/lb
Armament
- Guns: 4 × 20mm Hispano Mk.Vcannon, 2 in each wing
- Rockets: 16 × RP-3 underwing rockets
- Missiles: 1 × Mk.15 or Mk.17 torpedo
- Bombs: Up to 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) of bombs or mines
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Notes
References
Notes
- Flight, 15 June 1956. Retrieved: 21 December 2009.
- ^ Ovčáčík 2003, p. 3.
- ^ Blackbushe 1973, p.=19.
- ^ Bussey 2003, p. 172.
- ^ Bussey 2003, pp. 173–174.
- ^ ejection-history.org.uk Aircraft by Type: Westland Wyvern
- ^ Smith 1998, pp. 46–53.
- ^ Swanborough Air International January 1997, p. 34.
- ^ James 1991. pp. 285–304.
Bibliography
- Bussey, Geoffrey. "Type Analysis: Westland Wyvern". International Air Power Review, Volume 9, Summer 2003, pp. 168–181. Norwalk, Connecticut: AIRtime Publishing. ISSN 1473-9917.
- A History of the Westland Wyvern. Camberley, UK: Blackbushe Aviation Research Group, 1973.
- Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Westland's Winged Dragon". Air Enthusiast Quarterly, No. 1, n.d., pp. 20–35. ISSN 0143-5450
- James, Derek N. Westland Aircraft since 1915 London: Putnam & Company, 1991. ISBN 0-85177-847-X.
- James, Derek N. Westland: A History. Gloucestershire, UK: Tempus Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-7524-2772-5.
- Mondey, David. Westland (Planemakers 2). London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0134-4.
- Ovčáčík, Michal and Karel Susa. Westland Wyvern TF Mks. 1,2, T Mk.3, S Mk.4. Prague: Mark 1, 2003. ISBN 80-902559-9-X.
- Smith, John T. "Wrath of a Mythical Monster: Westland Wyvern Operations in the Suez Campaign" Air Enthusiast No. 74, March/April 1998. ISSN 0143-5450
- Sturtivant, Ray, Mick Burrow and Lee Howard. Fleet Air Arm Fixed-Wing Aircraft Since 1946. Tonbridge, Kent: UK: Air-Britain (Historians), 2004. ISBN 0-85130-283-1.
- Swanborough, Gordon. "Wyvern: Westland's Bedevilled Dragon". ISSN 0306-5634.
- "Westland W.34 Wyvern." Control Column, Official Organ of the British Aircraft Preservation Council, Volume 11, No. 8, November/December 1977.
- Williams, Ray. Fly Navy: Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm since 1945. London: Airlife Publishing, 1989. ISBN 1-85310-057-9
Further reading
- "Westland Wyvern: Design and Development of the Navy's Turboprop Strike Fighter." (pdf) Flight, 15 June 1956. Retrieved: 21 December 2009.