The Lynx helicopter was developed in the late sixties by Westland with the participation of Aerospatiale. The prototype flew for the first time in 1971. The initial customers were the Royal Navy with orders of 75 HAS 2 and the Army with a 100 AH 1 ordered. The design was an instant success and was exported to 14 countries. The Lynx is almost exclusively used in the naval role and operated by such important customers as the German, the Dutch, Norwegian, French and Danish Navy. The later has used their Airframes over the guaranteed 7000 hours and were the first to be put through an extensive overhaul,
which included the exchange of the whole airframe and a major avionic and engine update program including the addition of the new Blade design with the broad tips, the BERP (British Experimental Rotor Program) this is a development between Westland Aircraft Helicopter Division and the Royal Aircraft Establishment. This latest addition greatly improved the Helicopters lifting and manoeuvrability performance and enhanced the speed significantly. The Lynx set a speed world record for helicopters in 1986 with a specially prepared machine reaching over 400 km/h, which still stands to this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment