3D model
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A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as XG474 ‘O’ of No. 66 Squadron, the Bristol-designed tandem-rotor transport helicopter with twin Napier Gazelle turboshafts, a long slab-sided cabin, tall four-wheel undercarriage and four-bladed rotors fore and aft; painted as it is displayed at the RAF Museum, London: Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey camouflage with a light grey chin, Type D roundels, a large white ‘O’ on the cabin, the serial on the rear fuselage, a fin flash on the rear pylon and orange equipment pods on the cabin sides; the port side is assumed to mirror the starboard camouflage. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (854 KB)
Data plate
Specification
- First flight5 July 1958
- Built26
- Top speed138 mph
- Enginetwo Napier Gazelle 101 turboshafts, about 1,650 shp each
- Crew2–3, with up to 18 troops or 12 stretchers
- Main rotor14.91 m
- Length, rotors turning16.56 m
- Height5.26 m
- In service1961–1969
- RoleTandem-rotor transport helicopter
- MakerBristol Aircraft (Westland from 1960), Britain
- UK collections3
First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (); engine, crew and dimensions are for the Belvedere HC.1 modelled here.
History
The Belvedere HC.1
Bristol’s helicopter department followed the Sycamore with a much larger machine with two rotors in tandem, one above the nose and one on a tall pylon at the tail. The piston-engined Type 173 flew on 3 January 1952, and from it grew the Type 191 for the Royal Navy and the Type 193 for West Germany. Both orders were cancelled, and only the RAF’s version, the Type 192, went ahead, with two Napier Gazelle turboshafts and a shaft linking the rotors so that either engine could turn both. The first Type 192, XG447, flew on 5 July 1958. Westland took over Bristol’s helicopter business in 1960, so the type entered service as the Westland Belvedere.
The Belvedere HC.1 was the RAF’s first twin-engined, twin-rotor helicopter. No. 66 Squadron formed with it at Odiham in 1961, followed by Nos. 26 and 72 Squadrons. It could carry 18 troops inside or about 6,000 lb on a hook beneath the cabin, and in April 1962 an RAF Belvedere lowered the spire onto the new Coventry Cathedral.
Overseas it did its hardest work. No. 66 Squadron moved to Singapore in 1962 and flew troops and stores through the jungle during the Brunei revolt and the confrontation with Indonesia in Borneo, while No. 26 Squadron in Aden lifted guns and men onto the ridges of the Radfan. The Belvedere was never reliable, though, and the fleet was grounded for a time in 1962 after an accident. Only 26 were built for the RAF, and the last were retired in March 1969, when No. 66 Squadron disbanded. Wessex and Puma helicopters took over its work.
This airframe
HC.1 XG474
XG474 was built by Westland’s Bristol helicopter division at Old Mixon, Weston-super-Mare, and shipped to Singapore in 1962. It joined No. 66 Squadron at Seletar in June 1962 as ‘O’, flew in Brunei and Borneo, and from May 1964 served with No. 26 Squadron in Aden before returning to Singapore. It came back to Britain for the RAF Museum when the type was retired in 1969, and it is displayed at the RAF Museum in London. The model shows it as photographed there: Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey camouflage with a light grey chin, Type D roundels, a large white ‘O’ on the cabin, the serial in small white figures on the rear fuselage, a fin flash on the rear pylon and orange equipment pods on the cabin sides. No good photograph of the port side was found, so its camouflage is assumed to mirror the starboard side.
Where to see one
In the gazetteer
The gazetteer records the Belvedere HC.1 in 3 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.