Westland Lynx

[DarrenP2]

military VIP helicopter?
Arctic/Antarctic research support aircraft?

[Thorvic]

military VIP helicopter?
Arctic/Antarctic research support aircraft?

Technically the RN HAS 3 (ICE) was an Antarctic Research Support Aircraft as they replaced the Wasp on Endurance and Polar Circle the Protector bought to replace Polar Circle/Endurance only has a Helo pad and no hanger facilities so the Variant was dropped and not replaced by a Wildcat variant.

Still would look good in the full British Antarctic Survey scheme with 

[DarrenP2]

did also think the cousteau institute as well

[Thorvic]

Going back to the Lynx

Lynx HT1 was supposed to be for the Royal Air Force as a training version to replace the Whirlwind - so colourful training schemes possible there from the 70s to now as well as some possibly in the RAF Helicopter Camo schemes.

Lynx AH6 a dedicated Royal Marines version of the Navy Lynx with Army Lynx weapon systems

Lynx Mk.22 - Unbuilt export version for the Egyptian Navy.
Lynx Mk.24 - Unbuilt export utility version for the Iraqi army.
Lynx Mk.26 - Unbuilt export armed version for the Iraqi army.
Lynx Mk.82 - Unbuilt export version for the Egyptian army.
Lynx Mk.83 - Unbuilt export version for the Saudi Arabian army.
Lynx Mk 84 - Unbuilt export version for the Qatar army.
Lynx Mk 85 - Unbuilt export version for the United Arab Emirates army.

Lynx-3 - Enhanced Lynx variant with Westland 30 tail boom and rotor, Gem 60 engines, new wheeled tricycle undercarriage and MIL-STD-1553 databus. Only one prototype built

Lots of potential for the Project cancelled there and lots of interesting desert schemes to play with, the Egyptian Navy Lynx might look rather cool next to the Egyptian Navy Sea kings in that medium blue colour they wore.

[RAFF-35]

There's also the lynx AHC which sounds like it should look like a baby Hind-24 or something 

[DarrenP2]

couple of what if users

French Army
Danish Army replacing the OH6 and instead of the Ecureil
Dutch Airforce replacing the Aoulette III including the royal flight
Belgian Airforce instead of the A109
German Army instead of the Bo105

[KiwiZac]

And Argentina 

Only recently did I learn they flew them during the 1982 war! Last night I saw film of one flying over Stanley. Rather surreal!

[Weaver]

Just realized something: the missiles in the Airfix Army Lynx are the incredibly rare prototype Hawkswing, not HOT as is commonly assumed. The assumption comes because the early Bo.105 PAH-1 used two triple HOT tubes and the launchers on the Airfix Lynxs are superficially similar. However, closer inspection shows that the HOT tubes are carried on top of a common beam (they were later changed to a staggered arrangement), while the Lynx missiles are slung under individual miniature aircraft pylons.

As this picture from an airshow demonstrates, the underslung missiles were Hawkswing:



Here's the Airfix Lynx and the Italeri PAH-1 for comparison:



The Hawkswing tubes were also shorter and fatter than the HOT ones.

Hawkswing was the abortive attempt to make a helicopter-launched version of the successful Swingfire ATGW. It failed because Swingfire's main asset, it's ability to change cource by 90 deg right out of the launcher was only achieved by having a low initial speed, and that made it unsuitable for helicopter launch since it was exposed to the rotor downwash and pushed strongly off course for too long. It also had MACLOS guidance at a time when SACLOS was becoming the new norm. Adapting Swingfire to compensate for these factors would have made it effectively a new missile, and with TOW and HOT already in mass production and affordable, there was felt to be no need for it. The Army Air Corps eventually chose TOW instead.

Of course, in whiff-world things might have gone differently, with Hawkswing getting TCA/SACLOS guidance (which Swingfire did eventually) and a new motor. One immediate possibility that springs to mind is an AAC Gazelle with four missiles, since the roof-mounted sight used on the real thing (and included in the Airfix kit) was actually a minor adaption of the sight originally developed by Ferranti for Hawkswing.

[Captain Canada]

Interesting stuff ! Never seen that pic before. Looks funny with three small windows, like it's trying to be a big chopper !

[kitnut617]

That's right Harold, I was only looking at my Airfix Army Lynx over the weekend and wondered what the tubes were for. Thanks for the very timely information, I'm going to use them on a project I have in mind for another PAH-2 contestant, a Bell Model 249 (or maybe it will be an advanced version) which appeared in the 1980 Farnborough Airshow  .

[JayBee]

Looks funny with three small windows, like it's trying to be a big chopper !

That is because it was one of the prototypes.