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The Skeeter was a light observation and training helicopter produced by Saunders-Roe of Cowes and Southampton. An overly long period of development and lack of engagement with end-users plagued this essentially simple helicopter. It was designed around 1945 at Cierva, initally as the W.14 (with a Jameson 106hp FF-1 engine) then named the Skeeter 1, which first flew on 8 Oct 1948 with a triangular section tail boom. The Skeeter 2 was powered by a de Havilland 145hp Gipsy Major 10 and had a more conventional, circular tail cross-section. It first flew on 15 Oct 1949 but suffered so badly from ground resonance, the single model eventually disintegrated. Enough promise was shown for the UK Ministry of Supply (which procured British Army aircraft at the time) to order two Skeeter 3 airframes - further improved by the 180hp Blackburn Bombardier engine, as a development batch. SARO took over Cierva in Jan 1951 but even this injection of talent (and capital) could not prevent the British Army rejecting the Skeeter 3B, nor the Royal Navy rejecting the Skeeter 4. Less resonance and more power was required, apparently being met by the Skeeter 5 and then by 1956, the Skeeter 6 (with the 200hp Gipsy Major 201) was available.  The first production unit was the Skeeter 6A for the British Army (as the AOP.10) and the 6B for the RAF (as the dual T.11 trainer). Both had all metal, stressed skins with wooden main blades. The Skeeter finally entered Army Air Corps service in Oct 1958 for reconnaissance and Air OP duties. Westland took over SARO in 1960 and the development of a turbine powered Skeeter with the Blackburn Turmo 603 was abandoned, although the experience was carried forward into the Wasp/Scout programme. After this rationalisation, a project was abandoned in March 1960 to boost its performance with a de Havilland supercharger, in hot and high environments. There were also lift enhancement trials of the Napier Rocket Booster, (a hydrogen peroxide tank mounted in a small tank above the rotor head and nozzles at the rotor tips for the expanding gases, without increasing rotor speed) for tropical operations. The final variant was the Skeeter 8, which was basically a civilianisation of the Skeeter 7 (essentially the Army Air Corps AOP.12 version) for commercial operations. 3 were built for UK Certificate of Airworthiness tests, but no civil orders were placed and Skeeter production came to an end in 1960. In Jul 1961, West Germany sold 10 non-airworthy Skeeters to the Portuguese Air Force but Westland subsequently abandoned a project to restore them to flying state.
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| Model | Year | History | | skeeter > saro p.531 | | Development of the Westland Wasp / Scout family was the first general purpose light helicopter project that was completely British. Initiated by ...
The P.531 O/N version was also known by SARO as the H.AS/194D during its shipboard trials.
| | | skeeter > westland scout | | Developed from the SARO P.531, Westland built two more P.531/2 prototypes at Eastleigh with ...
| | | skeeter > westland wasp | 1961 | two seat (side by side), anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopter. derived from the saunders-roe p531, after disappointing experience w ...
production wasps used the rolls-royce nimbus 503 engine.
the f. in the c/n means that was built by fairey
built at fairey (then westland) factory at hayes, middlesex. transported to white waltham for first flight.
Pictorial
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| C/N | Version | Built | History | | s2/5076 | | 1958 |  XL764 : dd Sep 1958 to Eastleigh and on to Army Air Corps at Middle Wallop on 9 Oct 1958. Crashed Jan 1962 and returned to Westland for repair. In Feb 1964 it returned and went between the A&AEE at Boscombe Down and Westland for trials. To 7940M at the Army Apprentice School at Arborfield. Sold in 1975 and displayed at Nostell Priory. To Newark Air Museum in July 1980, where it wears the code, J.
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1 C/N found.
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