A new XP853 at Farnborough Air Show
I purchased the bare Scout airframe of XP853 on eBay in February of 2005, for the princely sum of £721. The picture above was the actual photograph from the auction listing and was just listed as "Wasp helicopter". Not knowing the first thing about helicopters my original idea was to cobble something up as a garden ornament. The project has since grown into a complete static restoration of the cockpit section with working electrics and engine.
XP853 was first seen at the 1962 Farnborough Air Show and was on static display. The helicopter was first flown on the 16/06/1962 and after testing it was delivered to the Army Air Corp on the 19th of November 1962. Based at Middle Wallop with the Advanced Rotary Wing and it carried the code "C" on its side. In late 1973 XP853 joined 664 Squadron in Northern Ireland until 1977 when she joined 666(Re.655) Squadron until March 1981. Moving to AETW at Middle Wallop until 1984 when she moved to SEAE at Aborfield and then put into storage at Bramley Air Base.
This and 1 other Scout (XP191) were purchased by the "X-Ray Tango" helicopter club with the view to making 1 good example. As far as I can make out the club lost its storage and XP853 and most of the X-Ray collection ended up in a scrapyard in Somerset. Thankfully the scrappy decided to list them all on eBay before they were shipped off to China & turned into saucepans!
The first time I got to see my new project was on the 7th March 2005 at Clackett Lane services on the M25. The airframe had to be delivered to a field in Kent before being stripped down further for the trip home, as with the skids fitted it would not fit down the access road to my garden!
1. The helicopter listed on eBay........ 
2. Delivered to a field in Kent 
3. Take off.....briefly! 
4. Preperation begins for the trip home For the complete story on the Westland Scout Restoration please follow the link below..... www.westlandscout.com | 
5. Landing gear removed and ready for the M25 run 
6. Promo photograph for BBC 2's "The Money Programme" which featured yours truly and XP853. 
7. Between its arrival in 2005 and 2006 it was decided that a car port would be built to keep the rain off. The first few years of ownership provided very few parts and zero progress, but at least the airframe was kept dry! |