page_title: Westland Helicopters
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Westland Helicopters / History / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: Westlands. Main entrance to Westlands factory in Yeovil.
context_page_description: Westland Helicopters was a British aerospace company. Originally Westland Aircraft, the company focused on helicopters after the Second World War. It was amalgamated with several other British firms in 1960 and 1961.
  In 2000, it merged with Italian helicopter manufacturer Agusta to form AgustaWestland, In 2016, it merged into Leonardo where it became the company's helicopters division under the Leonardo Helicopters brand.
context_section_description: Westland Aircraft was founded in 1935 when Petters Limited split its aircraft manufacturing from its aircraft engine concerns. During the Second World War the company produced military aircraft including the Lysander, the Whirlwind and the Welkin.
  After the war, the company began to build helicopters under a licensing agreement with Sikorsky.  From the mid-1950s the company came to increasingly concentrate on helicopters, eventually to the exclusion of other types.  Production started with the Sikorsky S-51, which became the Westland Dragonfly, flying for the first time in 1948 and entering service with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force in 1953.  Westland developed an improved version, the Widgeon, which was not a great success. Success with the Dragonfly was repeated with the Sikorsky S-55 which became the Whirlwind, and a re-engined Sikorsky S-58 in both turboshaft and turbine engine powered designs as the Wessex.
caption: Entrance to AgustaWestland's works in Yeovil, England
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