YEOVIL NEWS: Thousands attend centenary family day at Westland

THE importance of aircraft making in Yeovil was perfectly illustrated last weekend when thousands of people poured through the gates to celebrate the factory’s centenary.

The weather was awful on Sunday (July 12, 2015), but that did not deter the crowds coming out to get a behind-the-scenes look at the company which has become so important to Yeovil and the surrounding area for ten decades.

The Westland Aircraft Works was established in 1915 in Yeovil by the Petter brothers who had a thriving engineering business in Yeovil and made the decision to offer their company’s manufacturing resources to the Government to help the First World War effort.

The Admiralty contracted them to build Short 184 seaplanes under licence with work starting immediately and so Westland Aircraft Works was officially formed as a branch of Petters Ltd.

Westland has gone on to produce many famous fixed wing aircraft designs such as the Whirlwind, Welkin, Wapiti, Lysander and helicopters such as the Lynx and AW101.

In 2001 AgustaWestland was formed with the bringing together of two great names in aviation and since 2004 has been wholly owned by Finmeccanica.

One hundreds years after building the first Short Type 184 seaplane, the Yeovil factory is at the very forefront of rotorcraft technology – designing, developing and manufacturing the latest generation of rotorcraft for military and commercial sectors.

Yeovil is currently home to final assembly lines for the Super Lynx 300, AW159 and AW101 helicopters as well as the new generation AW189 civil helicopter.

It is also the main provider of helicopters to the UK Ministry of Defence and delivers Integrated Operational Support and training services for the MoD’s Apache AH Mk 1, Merlin, Sea King and AW159 Wildcat helicopter fleets.

The Yeovil factory employees 3,200 people and also supports a further 6,800 jobs in the supply chain. It has often been said in the past that if "Westland sneezes, Yeovil catches a cold" and that theory is more true than ever before.

But the future is looking bright.

The company’s chief executive officer, Daniele Romiti, said: “Keep your feet on the ground, keep watching the skies – here’s to the next 100 years.”

More photos from the family day can be found in our special picture galleries.

Photo Gallery Part 1: http://www.yeovilpress.co.uk/blog/2015/07/17/westland-centenary-family-day-part-1-july-12-2015/ .

Photo Gallery Part 2: http://www.yeovilpress.co.uk/blog/2015/07/17/westland-centenary-family-day-part-2-july-12-2015/ .

During Sunday’s family day at AgustaWestland a special plaque was unveiled in honour of Teddy Petter who designed two of the company’s most famous aircraft – the Westland Lysander and Westland Whirlwind.

More info on the plaque unveiling can be found on this link: http://www.yeovilpress.co.uk/blog/2015/07/17/yeovil-news-family-visit-westland-factory-to-unveil-plaque-in-honour-of-teddy-petter/ .

PHOTOS: All taken during the family day at AgustaWestland in Yeovil on Sunday, July 12, 2015.

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