Westland Helicopters Westland Helicopters was a British aerospace company . Originally Westland Aircraft , the company focused on helicopter s after the Second World War . It was amalgamated with several other British firms in 1960 and 1961 . In 2001 , it merged with Italian helicopter manufacturer Agusta to form AgustaWestland . History . Post - war refocusing . 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 " 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 . Forced merger . The chairmanship of Eric Mensforth from 1953 – 1968 marked the start of the transition , which was aided by the government when in 1959 – 1961 they forced the merger of the 20 or so aviation firms into three groups , British Aircraft Corporation and Hawker Siddeley Group took over fixed - wing designs , while the helicopter divisions of Bristol , Fairey and Saunders - Roe ( with their hovercraft ) were merged with Westland to form Westland Helicopters in 1961 . Westland inherited the Saro Skeeter helicopter , a development of the Cierva W . 14 Skeeter and the Fairey Rotodyne compound gyroplane design . They continued to develop the latter , terminating their own Westland Westminster large transport design . The company continued to produce other aircraft under licence from Sikorsky ( Sea King ) and Bell ( Sioux ) . They also produced their own designs ; the Westland Scout and its naval variant the Westland Wasp from the P . 531 which found favour with the Army Air Corps and Fleet Air Arm respectively . In the late 1960s , the company began a collaboration with Aérospatiale to design three new helicopters , the Aérospatiale Puma , Aérospatiale Gazelle and Westland Lynx , with the last being a Westland design . Through Saunders - Roe , Westland became first a part owner then , from 1970 , the whole owner of the British Hovercraft Corporation , subsequently trading as Westland Aerospace . Most designs were Saunders - Roe or Saunders - Roe derivatives . For many years Westland owned the main London heliport at Battersea . Decline . Despite good support from the British establishment , the company gradually fell into unprofitability . Sikorsky approached with a bail - out deal in 1985 that split the cabinet and led to the resignation of Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine in January 1986 over the fate of Britain ' s sole helicopter manufacturer . The split , which became known as the Westland affair , was over whether to push the company into a European deal or accept the US company ' s offer . Eventually , the link with Sikorsky was accepted . Turnaround . In the 1990s , the company returned to profitability and grew as a result of several major contracts from the UK Ministry of Defence for EH101 Merlin helicopters and for 67 licence - built Boeing AH - 64 Apache attack helicopters , designated the WAH - 64 and entering full operational service in 2005 . Some of the company ' s Whirlwind and Wessex helicopters served the Queen ' s Flight ( later merged into No . 32 Squadron ) . GKN bought into Westland in 1988 , acquiring a stake owned by Hanson plc . They soon acquired the shares owned by Fiat which gave them absolute control . In 1994 , Westland became a wholly owned subsidiary of GKN . It was merged with Finmeccanica ' s Agusta helicopter division in 2001 . The newly - merged company AgustaWestland still maintains the plant at Yeovil . In 2004 , Finmeccanica S . p . A . acquired GKN ' s share in the joint venture . The former Westland site at the now unused airfield in Weston - super - Mare houses The Helicopter Museum featuring a number of examples of Westland aircraft . Pride of place is given to an immaculate Westland Wessex HCC Mk . 4 , formerly of the Queen ' s Flight . Products . Helicopters .