wessex

 

The Wessex helicopter was the general workhorse of the military for many years. The Wessex was used in the Falklands War though it tended to be overshadowed by the Sea King helicopter. The first flight of the Wessex was in July 1958. It usually had a crew of two and at sea level the Wessex had a maximum speed of 132 mph. Its maximum ceiling was 12,000 feet and the Wessex had a maximum range of 310 miles.

 

A Wessex helicopter could carry up to 16 personnel. Wessex helicopters were used by the Special Air Service when they landed in South Georgia on April 21st and were used again to extract them on April 22nd. One of the Wessex helicopters was lost during the extraction – a victim of the appalling weather on the island. However, the reliability of the Wessex was such that overloaded helicopters managed to extract the SAS men who should have been on the lost Wessex.