Hélicoptères Westland : livres - histoire et technique

With an active service life of more than 40 years with the Royal Navy and the RAF, the Westland Wessex was one of the most versatile helicopters of the Cold War.
Its duties included Commando and Special Forces insertions during the Falklands War, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, as well as battlefield troop transport and supplies carrier.

Lee Howard had full access to several restored Wessex airframes to complete a full Haynes Manual treatment of this once ubiquitous and versatile helicopter, including insights into its operation and maintenance from former Wessex air and groundcrews.

The Aerospatiale / Westland Gazelle is one of the longest serving and most successful reconnaissance and light attack helicopters. The Gazelle soon made an impression with its high speed, smooth looks and design innovations such as the Fenestron ducted tail rotor and composite main rotor blades.

Once Westland had joined the French helicopter project, the Gazelle was soon adopted as a trainer by the RAF, as a battlefield reconnaissance and attack helicopter by the Army Air Corps and Royal Marines and as a training helicopter by the Royal Navy. It carried out similar roles in the French armed forces and those of other nations.
As this book shows, armed variants of the Gazelle have taken part in conflicts in the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Lebanon, the Gulf War, former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Mali and Syria.
It has also been adapted for civilian roles. As a testament to its success, Gazelle helicopters will continue in service with the British and French armed forces beyond 2020.

In this readable book, aviation expert David Oliver tells the full story of the development of the Gazelle as well as its various air force, military and naval roles and deployments.
Illustrated with lavish colour photographs, this book is an essential guide to one of the world's most successful military and civilian helicopters.

Designed by the European Helicopter Industries (EHI) partnership during the 1980s, initially as a naval helicopter to help combat the threat of an attack from Soviet missile submarines, the Merlin has evolved into a multi-role helicopter today.

The AW101 combines the most advanced technologies, safety by design, mission systems and leading-edge manufacturing to provide a proven platform for long-range Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in certain countries.
With a typical range of 750 nm (over 1,300 km) in standard configuration, the AW101 is the most capable SAR helicopter in the world today.

Other roles include transportation for Heads of State and VVIP operators; Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR); Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO); Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW); Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC); Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM); troop transport; utility support, CASEVAC/MEDEVAC; and Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR).

Lavishly illustrated throughout, Rich Pittman offers a fascinating portrait of an enduring and popular aircraft and traces its journey from design to the front line.