Anyone flown the Wessex?

[HueyLoach]

Last flight of the Wessex?

I would rather post it under MILITARY AIRCREW - LAST FLIGHT OF THE WESSEX but the thread is closed.

Former RAF HC2 Wessex XR505 still flying and doing maritime medevac as last week.



YouTube - MEDEVAC A-081.AVI

[Flag Track]

Ex 28 Sqn Wx in Uruguayan Service.

Any one know why these Cabs were acquired, when the type was at the end of it's life, EA & DA-wise? I wonder where the spares are coming from?


That being asked, Long live the Mighty Wx!

[Fareastdriver]

There are stacks of S58s and S58Ts sculling around the world. Airframe bits are not a problem; the only worry would be the Gnome attachments.

[Oldlae]

I was told some time ago that all the ex-MOD Wx and spares are sent to Uruguay.

[heli1]

Not quite true Oldlae.....thre are a number of Wessex 2s here in the UK owned by a geezer who wanted to get a CofA or Permit to Fly for them...so far refused.Spares too but combining gearboxes are the problem.
when last heard Uruguay still had three aircraft but only one flying.

[Savoia]

Regarding the correlation between the rescuer and rescuee .. what one has to remember is .. this is the Navy!

[aviationfan123]

The Westland Wessex

It appears they are flying?
Welcome to The Wessex Club - Home of the Wessex Enthusiast

[racingrigger]

The best Wessex?

All the talk seems to be about Mk 1,2,3 & 5s. How about the HCC 4!!!

[Herod]

Apart from a fancy interior, and I believe having major components half-lifed, it's basically a Mk 2

[racingrigger]

Nearly right - it's basically a Mk 5 eg bigger windows etc

[Herod]

I stand corrected, but then again, the 5 wasn't a whole lot different from the 2. The tail being easier to fold perhaps?

[[email protected]]

We had Mk5 s that had been converted to Mk2 spec in Cyprus in the 80s - very little difference apart from the external 'drop' fuel tank on the port side.

We also went through the process of half-lifing many components so we could use them for a Royal visit there.

[extpwron]

Back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, Gutersloh based 18 Sqn had to half-life two Mk 2s (one plus a spare) for a visit by Princess Margaret. Engineering nightmare and I believe they also had to fit ashtrays!

[heli1]

BothHCC MK.4s survive of course...one in the RAF Museum and the other in the Helicopter Museum alongside the surviving Whirlwind HCC MK 12.
However the MK.4 at Weston suffers from recurring under surface " worm" corrosion along the panel joins at the tail section ,presumably from dissimilar metals ? It's been treated and resprayed but has come back.

[racingrigger]

Corrosion was always a problem, particularly in the early days when nearly all the skinning was of magnesium alloy. This made the helicopter that bit lighter, but was a Westland con in that the maintenance costs far outwade the benefit of weight saving. As the years went by much of the skinning was replaced (often by MARTSU) with L72 Alclad, but once again if a magnesium skin butted/overlapped an alclad one there would be trouble ahead, as you suggested dissimilar metal problems. In the early days as part of a 25 hour servicing and before the advent of WD40, we used to have to wipe the external skin with OM-15 hydraulic oil for corrosion protection - this made for an interesting surface finish in sandy places like Khormaksar!

[peterperfect]

I saw a load of ex-Shawbury Wx 2 and some ex-US military Sikorsky S58s parked up behind a hangar at Punta del Este Air Station, Uruguay a couple of years ago if anyone needs photos. One Wx2 looked complete and the rumour was that it was flyable, the rest were in various states of decay and robbing.

[[email protected]]

Peter, are you sure it was Punta del Este? I saw 6 Wessex in various states of decline between hangars at Montevideo in 2011. The FAU had taken the wet fit floor out of one of them and bodged it into their 365 for winching work.

[peterperfect]

defo at the old USN seaplane base at Punta del Este, in 2013. There were also two ex-RN Astazou Jetstreams with Culdrose markings although their engines had been robbed, and a good number of ex-USN Grumman Trackers. Looks like they ran out of money and spares to keep them flying. XR-505 looked all there though and was protected from any weather. Also a signed squadron print in the crewroom of a nearby building relating to the Wx II delivery. I've got some other photos of two decimated airframes but I don't seek to make an old aviator weep.

[[email protected]]

The ones I saw in Montevideo weren't in much better condition so the Uruguayans must have bought more than I thought.

I was a sad sight seeing so many worn out Wessex gently rotting - The main problem they had with them was fuel computers - I don't think they knew how to set them up or maintain them properly. One of the older Sqn pilots who had flown them was gobsmacked when I told him I had 3000 hrs on Wessex and had only had one real computer freeze in that time - they used to get them every sortie!

I flew with 5 Sqn FUA on a visit there in their UH-1, 212 and 365. We also went to their fixed wing base further North where they had a twin engine fighter bomber with Astazous in them - that explains where the engine from the Jetstreams went.

Thanks for the pix!

[Lee Howard]

https://haynes.com/en-gb/westland-wessex-manual

Haynes Wessex Manual due out early next month, with thanks to several PPRuNers for their help in its preparation. :-)