A Quiet Country Town: A Celebration of Westland at Yeovil

It has been more than 100 years since the first airfield was established in the country town of Yeovil. Since 1915, aircraft have been designed, manufactured and tested at Westland, including the Lysander, used to transport British agents to Europe during the Second World War. In 1948 the company focused solely on helicopters and its aircraft have been sent all over the world since then, used in lifesaving with Air Ambulance and Search and Rescue and deployed in warfare such as Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. To celebrate the rich history of the UK’s only major helicopter manufacturer, David Gibbings has collated an anthology of writings that retell Westland’s history and its special relationship with Yeovil, which has rarely been quiet since the first aircraft took off from the airfield that now lies at its heart. AUTHOR: David Gibbings MBE is an ex-RAF apprentice, a retired RAF engineer/navigator and flight test engineer for helicopters and aircraft. During a long flight test career with Westland he flew with most of their helicopters. He has written several books in his career on flight topics and Westland in particular. 90 b/w illustrations