Lynx 9A arrives in Afghanistan

HAVE YOUR SAY

In the loft I found Aviation & Marine magazine Dec 1974. There was an item on the civil Lynx prototype 606. Shame it never got into production as a few civil sales could steady the Lynx production line.
John Hartley - Woking/Surrey/UK

Showing your age now John!
James - GB

It seems like centuries, that I have been walking amongst you, but honestly I was a schoolboy when I bought the magazine.
I still say a few updated civil Lynx 606 sales for VIP/Police/Ambulance/Rescue work could even out the production line, reducing costs for all.
John Hartley - Woking/Surrey/UK

The "civil lynx" became the W 30, which saw service with BA on the North Sea gas platforms and the Scillies shuttle, as well as in New York by PanAm. There were other operators as well, and a number were sold to the Indians for their oil rig support operation. The aircraft was a good size and comfortable, but the Gem was too low powered for that application and it was too reliant on good maintenance which civil operators were unwilling to give it. As a consequence it was not a success and it did not remain in service very long. The upgraded W 30 with the T700 engine was a good concept but Westlands hadn't the money to develop it and the Government refused to help, despite it filling the operational requirement of the Wessex/Puma replacement, which we are still waiting for 30 years later!
Rod Ballantyne - Bristol

Rod, the W 30 was a big cabin version, the 606 was a normal size cabin. Both with todays engines & avionics, could find a market, but first you need a tax system that encourages manufacturing.
John Hartley - Woking/Surrey/UK

John,
The point I was trying to make was that the 606 never proceeded beyond a paper study, the W 30 was pursued as it used the same rotor head and engines/main gearbox etc and was seen by Westlands as a bigger market. There wouldn't be any sales of the 606 variant today as it would be 30 years old and couldn't compete against current models from Eurocopter and the Americans, so it wouldn't help the production line for todays builds. The Lynx was a military aircraft and was not really designed for extensive use (In military service it only flies about 300 hours/year) in civil usage it would have needed regular and expensive maintenance (the downfall of the W 30).
Rod Ballantyne - Bristol

Rod, other 30+ year designs that still sell, include the Chinook, Puma/Cougar, Jetranger, MI-8/17, litle bird, etc. All have been updated. The Lynx in all sizes, could have been updated & debugged, but the UK lack of National will stopped it. A few launch UK orders for VIP/Police/Rescue civil Lynx, would have set the ball rolling.We cannot afford to live just on imports. We have to relearn the need for UK manufacturing.
John Hartley - Woking/Surrey/UK

Dream on John!
Westlands were a cottage industry, they never had the capital resources to pursue civil programmes, they were dependent on military sales and never had a product range to be able to exploit it. Government policy for many years was not to have a policy for supporting manufacturing. The tax system is merely one part of the picture. The whole British Aircraft industry no longer has any capability in civil aircraft since BAe dropped the 146 , the Jetstream , and the 748. Westlands survives as part of Finnmechanica, but has no money to spend on the re-certification work that would be required to do what you suggest. The recent re-engining of the Lynx was paid for by the MOD and that took 15 years to happen! We do need manufacturing but wishing for it won't make it happen, and for the airframers it is too late now.
Rod Ballantyne - Bristol

Rod, the UK imports twice as much from Germany, as it does from China. People will pay a premium for quality goods. The City of London only gorges for itself. It cannot support the UK. Politicians & the Media, need to get behind UK manufacturing or decline in national wealth is inevitable.
John Hartley - Woking/Surrey/UK

John, We had better wind this conversation up or we will bore the pants off everybody! I spent my whole working life in manufacturing, and my company (RR) is the most successful engineering company in the UK. We have kept the faith and crusaded for manufacturing industry, maybe our voice is at last being heard if you believe the comments from certain politicians. Believe me it was an uphill struggle from 1980 until 2010 to be heard. Most ministers that I had to brief were simply not listening. And all parties were too eager to cash in the "peace dividend" in 1990 at the expense of the Defence Industry.
Rod Ballantyne - Bristol