Westland Wasp
The Westland Wasp was a small British naval helicopter designed to operate from the tiny flight decks of frigates. It carried anti-submarine torpedoes or missiles but relied on the ship’s sonar to locate targets, acting as a remote weapons platform. Its four-wheel undercarriage and compact tail boom were tailored to shipboard handling. The Wasp served with the Royal Navy and several export navies, including during the Falklands War.
Did you know?
The Westland Wasp's four-wheel undercarriage was built for tiny frigate flight decks, and it relied on the ship's own sonar to find targets.
Specifications
| Length | 9.8 m (32 ft) |
|---|---|
| Height | 2.7 m (9 ft) |
| Rotor diameter | 9.8 m (32 ft) |
| Maximum passengers | 3 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Range | 260 NM (482 km) |
| Maximum speed | 110 kt (204 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 15,000 ft (4,572 m) |
| Rate of climb | 1,440 ft/min (7.3 m/s) |
| Engines | 1x Bristol Siddeley Nimbus |
| Units built | 133 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Westland Wasp starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Westland, the Wasp family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.
Browse all aircraft types, or learn to tell Airbus from Boeing.