Saro P.531
The Saunders -Roe P.531 was a five-seat light helicopter of the UK company Saunders -Roe. It represents an evolution of the two-seater Saunders -Roe Skeeter and in turn the precursor Westland Scout family.
History
With the successful acquisition of the two-seater Cierva Skeeter as the first helicopter in the corporate portfolio by Saunders -Roe, the idea was born to develop an enlarged version with 5 seats. In just two years of development work, there are a total of six machines, but the serial production started only under the new owner Westland Aircraft. While following the acquisition initially the name was retained P.531, Westland changed the name in 1961 in Westland Scout. Had this final model of the helicopter over the original P.531 several, in some cases only minor changes and improvements, but the extent of the helicopter were significantly larger and the efficiency of the turbines used better than the Saunders -Roe P.531.
Construction
As Skeeter possessed P.531 a dual hull structure, which was composed of an aluminum alloy. The forward fuselage section included the fully glazed cab, the fuel tanks and the engine area. The tapered back Boom was the rear fuselage section, which expired in a fin with the rotor balancing. Even basic elements such as the structure of the tail boom or the rotor configuration were taken from Skeeter and only increases in size, to account for the increased weight. The cabin has been renewed for a rear seat.
Versions
The two prototypes produced under the direction of Saunders -Roe P.531 of been added after the takeover by Westland for more prototypes. Since this is first further based on the P.531, they are listed here.
The following series models wore no longer the designation P.531, P.531 -2 so that the Scout AH.Mk 1 is the last release in the history of this type.