The Westland Puma HC Mk.1 is a Aérospatiale Puma SA 330 E built under licence by Westland Helicopters for the RAF. The Puma helicopter was designed by Sud Aviation (now Aérospatiale) to meet the requirements of the French Army for a medium lift all weather capable transport helicopter, the prototype first flew on the 15th of April 1965, the first production model taking to the air in September 1968. In 1978 the Puma became the first Helicopter built and designed in any of the NATO countries to be certificated for all-weather operational use, it remained in production until 1987 by which time 697 Helicopters had already been sold. The picture above depicts XW211, one of the RAF's thirty three Puma HC Mk.1's, it is capable of transporting up to twenty fully equipped troops or 7,055 lb of cargo slung below it's fuselage and was photographed in London during August 2006. Westland Puma HC Mk.1 (Aérospatiale Puma SA 330E) Specifications: Crew: 3 Capacity: 20 passengers or 7,055 lb of cargo Length: 18.15 m (59 ft 6 in) Rotor diameter: 15.0 m (49 ft 3 in) Height: 5.14 m (16 ft 10 in) Maximum gross takeoff weight: 7,400 kg (16,300 lb) Engines: Twin 1,435 shp Turboméca Turmo IIIC4 turbo-shafts Maximum speed: 263 km/h Range: 570 km (310 nm, 360 mi) Service ceiling: 4,800 m (15,750 ft) Rate of climb: 9.2 m/s (1,810 ft/min)
Armament: |
