Harold
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The Sikorsky S-55 helicopter from 1952 was one of the first commercially viable helicopters and was manufactured under licence in the UK by Westland, who named it the "Whirlwind". It got into many air forces around the world including the RAF and USAF, but this example was in the civil colours of the now-defunct British European Airways (BEA). It is an unmistakeable design, with the pilot's cabin rather high off the ground compared to modern choppers, and a solid, bulbous body and nose. The principal variation on Harold was the addition of floats to the wheels. Fanciful memoranda from the British Department of Transport in the 1950s suggested that helicopters might one day render railways obsolete. Percy's race with Harold may have been in part to rebuff this.
Secondhand model feature: Airfix, maker of mostly 1/72 scale polystyrene aircraft kits, once made one of the Westland Whirlwind. Add floats, red stripe and a face...Harold appeared in "Percy the Small Engine" (1956).
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