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:''For the 1950s helicopter , see Westland Widgeon (helicopter), for the 1940s Grumman amphibian, see Grumman G-44 Widgeon'' The Westland Widgeon was a British light aircraft of the 1920s. A single engined parasol monoplane, the Widgeon was built in small numbers before Westland abandoned production in 1929. ==Development and design== In 1924, the British Air Ministry, eager to encourage the development of cheap civil aircraft suitable for use by private owners and flying clubs, sponsored a competition for a two seat ultralight aircraft, which had to be powered by an engine of 1100 cc displacement or less and capable of carrying a load of at least 340 lb (155 kg). To meet this requirement, Westland Aircraft produced two designs, the Woodpigeon biplane, and the Widgeon parasol monoplane. Unable to decide which design would be superior, Westland decided to build both types.〔James 1991, p.104.〕 The Widgeon first flew at Westland's Yeovil factory on 22 September 1924, eight days after the first of two Woodpigeons.〔James 1991, p.111.〕 Its fuselage, which was very similar to that of the Woodpigeon, was of mixed steel tube and wooden construction, while the wooden parasol wing, which was tapered in both chord and thickness,〔Flight 25 September 1924, p.624.〕 folded for easy storage. It was powered by a single 1,090 cc Blackburne Thrush three cylinder radial engine, which produced 35 hp (26 kW).〔James 1991, p.110.〕 The Air Ministry Light Aircraft competition began at Lympne Aerodrome, Kent on 27 September. The Widgeon, which due to the use of the Thrush engine was badly underpowered (as was the Woodpigeon), crashed during the first day of trials.〔 Despite this setback, it was clear that the Widgeon had promise and was superior to the Woodpigeon, and the damaged prototype was rebuilt with a more powerful 60 hp (45 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Genet engine as the Widgeon II. Despite its much greater weight, the new engine transformed the Widgeon, the rebuilt aircraft being almost 40 mph (64 km/h) faster.〔James 1991, p.112.〕 Based on this experience, Westland decided to enter the Widgeon into production for the private owner. It was therefore redesigned with a simpler, constant chord, wing replacing the tapered wing of the Widgeon I and II to ease production. The resulting Widgeon III could be powered either a radial engine like the Genet or an inline engine such as the Cirrus. The first Widgeon III flew in March 1927, with production starting later that year.〔James 1991, p.114.〕 The design was further refined with a duralumin tube fuselage and a new undercarriage to produce the Widgeon IIIA. The Widgeon proved expensive compared to its competitors and a total of only 26 of all types, including the prototype, were built and sold before production was stopped in 1930 in order to allow Westland to concentrate of the Wapiti general purpose military aircraft and the Wessex airliner.〔James 1991, p.118.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Westland Widgeon (fixed wing)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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