Hall of Fame -> Harvey Westland

Harvey Westland

Harvey Westland, originally a sheep farmer from the Cheviot hills, spent most of his aeromodelling years making and developing racing glow plug engines- always striving to get more power from his engines he was forced to develop new techniques, understand metallurgy, the mysteries of tuned pipe design, and learn the art of chrome plating.

In the early 70's he made 2.5 cc glow plug engines suitable for both free flight and control line speed and those engines compared favourably with the then popular Rossi from Italy. During the mid 70's he designed and made all the components, including castings, for the Westland 29- a 5cc rear exhaust engine. These were made in two configurations- control line speed and teamrace- and these established many records in NZ and Australia. In later years he
produced a Westland 40 pylon motor and although 3 were only ever built, they were, in the right hands, equal to the worlds best.

His interest in control line speed saw him represent NZ many times at Trans Tasman contests, and compete at the World Control line Championships in Woodvale, England in 1978.

A man generous with his time when working with/ for his friends spent time during his active years on the committee of the Kaiapoi Model Aero Club, and two terms on the NZMAA Control Line Technical Committee.

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