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The RAN’s surviving Scout in the Australian Naval Aviation Museum at Nowra.
Aircraft of the ADF — N8 Westland Scout AH.1
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N8 – Westland Scout AH.71
The Westland P.531 was designed as a private venture by the Saunders-Roe company as a compact five-seat general purpose helicopter. Developed from the company’s earlier Skeeter light helicopter, the Saro P.531 was larger with an externally mounted 400shp (800kW) turbine engine with a four-bladed main rotor and a four-wheeled undercarriage.
The prototype, registered G-APNU, first flew on July 20 1958. The P.531 was then developed into the P.531-0, a more powerful version with a derated 960shp (715kW) turbine. Three prototypes were built (serialled XN332 to XN334), and the type was christened the Saro Sprite. Saunders-Roe further refined the design along the requirements being developed by the British Army, resulting in the P.531-2 prototype with a 1050shp (785kW) engine (derated to 685shp/510kW), a skid undercarriage, and a 33% increase in weight. Soon after the first flight of this machine, G-APVL, on August 9 1959, the British Army ordered eight pre-production Sprite prototypes (XP165 to XP167 and XP188 to XP192). However, as part of the Government’s policy to rationalise the British aerospace industry, all helicopter activity was merged under the Westland company. This takeover resulted in the aircraft being renamed the Westland Scout, and production was transferred to the Fairey plant, recently acquired by Westland, at Hayes, Middlesex. The first military Scout (XP165) flew on August 4 1960, and these eight machines were used at Boscombe Down and Farnborough in a series of development trials while production for the first 40 Scout AH.1s for Britain’s Army Air Corps (AAC) was underway at Hayes. A second prototype P.531-2 (G-APVM) had subsequently flown with the Bristol Nimbus 101 turboshaft, which then became the standard engine for production Scouts. Ultimately, 141 production Scouts were to be manufactured by Westland’s Fairey Division from 1961 until 1972. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy had been following the development of the Scout for an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role for deployment on destroyers and frigates. The three P.531-0 prototypes (XN332 to XN334) were flown by the Fleet Air Arm’s 771 Squadron at Yeovilton for 18 months of naval trials, resulting in the type’s adoption as the Wasp ASW.1. The first Wasp flew in January 1963, with the major external difference being a wheeled undercarriage. A total of 96 production Wasps were manufactured for the Royal Navy, some of which later passed to the Dutch, Indonesian and Brazilian Navies, in addition to the South African and New Zealand air forces. The Wasp was operated by the RN until 1988, when it was replaced by the Lynx. In late 1961, the RAN ordered two Scouts for duties aboard the new hydrographic survey vessel HMAS Moresby. The RAN’s choice of the Scout over the Wasp was most probably due to the skid undercarriage being more suitable than wheeled undercarriage for the utility roles that they would be undertaking. The British Royal Marines made a similar selection, operating Scouts while the RN flew Wasps. The two Australian aircraft, serialled with the RAN numbers WS101 and WS102 (with Fairey c/ns F.9490 and F.9491), were shipped out from England, and arrived in Australia on board SS Auckland Star on March 20 1963. That April, the two Scouts, painted in an attractive overall Oxford blue scheme, became part of 723 Squadron at HMAS Albatross. Work-up continued until HMAS Moresby was commissioned on March 6 1964, when one helicopter was permanently embarked. With one aircraft deployed, the other machine would undergo major servicing and undertake conversion training for new crews at Albatross. The introduction of the new RAN serial system in the mid-1960s saw the allocation N8 being applied to the Scouts, and accordingly the machines were re-serialled N8-101 and N8-102. The first major accident from HMAS Moresby occurred during 1967. On April 8, N8-102 was forced to ditch in Wewak Harbour during a deployment to Papua New Guinea. The aircraft was beyond repair, and future RAN survey operations were then continued with 723 Squadron’s surviving Scout. The Australian Army was soon in the process of selecting a new light observation helicopter to replace the Bell 47G, and in 1971 the Bell 206B was chosen. The RAN standardised with the Army’s selection, and ordered three Bell 206Bs for light utility helicopter duties, which included the Scout’s survey role. In 1973, the first Bell 206B was delivered to the RAN. The RAN’s remaining Scout, N8-101, was withdrawn from service with 723 Squadron on August 10 1977, but that was not to be the end of the Navy’s association with the type. N8-101 was fully restored to airworthiness, and then continued to fly with the RAN’s Historic Flight from Albatross. However, following an accident to N8-101/VH-NVY at Schofields (caused by an unauthorized nil experience person ground taxying the aircraft without approval) in November 1985, the risk of flying a one-off historic aircraft was realised, and the Historical Flight has since revised its policy on what historic aircraft should be “flyers”. Consequently, an aircraft will now only be flown if there is another example available for retention in the event of the loss of the flying aircraft. The British AAC’s withdrawal of the Scout in 1994 enabled the Historic Flight to obtain a further example and keep the type flying in Australia. The Historic Flight’s new Scout, serialled XR603 (c/n F.9525), is currently being restored to airworthiness at Albatross. When the machine takes to the air again, it will be marked as the RAN’s second Scout, N8-102.
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