Gazelle Beginnings

Dear Georgina,

The brief article on "40 Years of Fenestron", in the Summer Magazine, takes me back to the beginnings of the Gazelle or SA340 as it was then known.

The British Army issued a requirement (GSR 3336) for a 2 seat helicopter (4 for short journeys) designed down to a specified low life-cycle cost to enable it to be bought in large numbers for use in Army units.

As the Chief Projects Engineer at Westland, I led the team in the design of the WG 12 which met the performance and critical cost requirements. In spite of its acknowledged safety advantages, we therefore discounted the use of a ducted fan as earlier studies had shown that the concept, used more power, was heavier and was more costly than a more conventional tail rotor...