Today In History:  05 October  [1948]   --  First flight of the Westland WS-51 Dragonfly

The Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51.

A total of seventy-two Dragonflys entered service with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in the training, air-sea rescue and communications roles. The first unit to be equipped with them was 705 Naval Air Squadron, which is believed to be the first all-helicopter squadron to be formed outside of the United States. The Dragonfly was the first British-built helicopter to be used by the navy and the first to operate from a British ship in trials on RFA Fort Duquesne in 1951. A Dragonfly led the helicopter section of the flypast at the Coronation Review of the Fleet in 1953.

PHOTO: Westland WS-51 Dragonfly HR.3 WG723 of 706 Squadron Royal Navy in 1955

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Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia. RuthAS