The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum houses some very rare helicopters, albeit in cramped conditions making photography difficult. Only the ninth Whirlwind to be built by Westland, XA870 first flew in May 1954 and was initially allocated for RN service in the Far East but was found to be unsuitable. It then spent much of its service life in these colours aboard HMS Protector and was notable for the rescue of scientists from Roux Island in Antarctica in 1956. A few days after taking this shot I discovered the wrapper from the 1960s Airfix kit of XA870 during a clear-out, long since forgotten!

This photo is copyright © Richard Vandervord, and may not be used or published in any way without permission.

It was added on 4 December 2022, and has since been viewed 218 times.