The Westland WG.13 Lynx: A brief description of the only international aerospace project in which Britain has leadership in design, production and sales

THE first prototype WG.13 Lynx made its first flight at Yeovil on 21 March, 1971, piloted by Mr W. R. Gellatly, the Chief Test Pilot of Westland Helicopters Ltd. It was the last of the three helicopters in the Anglo/French package deal to fly and the only one with design leadership on this side of the Channel. It also has the distinction of being the first new Westland design for many years. Although the Lynx looks conventional, it incorporates many technical advances, particularly noteworthy in the fundamental design of the rotor head, blades and gearbox. Notable among the new features are the semi‐rigid or hingeless rotor head, strikingly simple compared with the conventional rotor head, and the ‘conformal’ gear train which can transmit twice the power as could conventional gearing of the same size. The key factor in the design has been the requirement of reliability and this has been achieved wherever possible by simplicity.