British Military Westland Scout a light helicopter developed by Westland Helicopters.
Served as a land-based general purpose military helicopter
by the Army Air Corps of the British Army, which operated it in several conflict zones including Northern Ireland and the Falklands War 1982
Only about 150 of these were ever built - and what a magnificent aircraft she is.
When fitted as a light attack helicopter, she carried either 2, skid-mounted, forward-firing machine gun (L8A1 General Purpose Machine Gun) packs
or
a single pintle-mounted machine gun in the rear cabin.
The gun-packs, which were both aimed at a pre-set convergence angle, carried 200 rounds of ammunition and were mounted on a tubular spar that was fixed between the front and rear undercarriage legs.
In the anti-tank role, she could carry 4 guided missiles (the Nord SS.11)
The sighting unit was the AF.120, the result of a joint venture between Avimo and Ferranti, had x2.5 and x10 magnification.
The Scout AH Mk 1 was operated by the Army Air Corps on general light work, including observation and liaison.
Like the Wasp, the Scout could be fitted out with different role equipment including flotation gear and a Lucas air-driven hoist which had a lift capacity of 600 lb (270 kg).
In the light attack role, it was capable of carrying 1 pintle machine gun in the rear cabin (it is possible to carry 2 pintle-mounted GPMGs in the cabin, although this would, unsurprisingly, be somewhat cramped) or two forward-firing 7.62mm L7 General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs) fixed to the undercarriage skid.
These GPMG combinations were sometimes used in unison to great effect.
The forward firing GPMGs were electrically operated, being fired by the pilot and aimed using a rudimentary system of drawing a small cross on the windscreen with a chinagraph pencil. In sandy conditions, these weapons could jam, which necessitated one of the free crew leaning out of the cockpit door and 'booting' the offending weapon in the hope of clearing it. This procedure was not strictly in accordance with the flight reference cards.
The L7A1 pintle-mounted weapon was operated by a door gunner.
General characteristics
Crew: 1 or 2
Capacity: 4 or 5 passengers / 1,500 lb (680 kg) slung load
Length: 30 ft 4 in (9.25 m)
Height: 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)
Airfoil: NACA 0012
Empty weight: 3,232 lb (1,466 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 5,300 lb (2,404 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Nimbus 101 turboshaft engine, 1,050 shp (780 kW)
Main rotor diameter: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
Main rotor area: 816.9 sq ft (75.89 m2)
Performance
Maximum speed: 131 mph (211 km/h, 114 kn)
Cruise speed: 122 mph (196 km/h, 106 kn)
Never exceed speed: 132 mph (212 km/h, 115 kn)
Range: 315 mi (507 km, 274 nmi)
Service ceiling: 17,700 ft (5,400 m)
Hover ceiling IGE: 12,500 ft (3,810 m)
Rate of climb: 1,670 ft/min (8.5 m/s)
Disk loading: 6.48 lb/sq ft (31.6 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.13 hp/lb (0.21 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns: 1 or 2 x L7 GPMG machine guns
Missiles: 4 x SS.11 anti-tank guided missiles
.
