RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, west London. Approximately 6 mi (10 km) north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights.
Northolt pre-dates the establishment of the Royal Air Force by almost three years, having opened in May 1915. Originally established for the Royal Flying Corps, it has the longest history of continuous use of any RAF airfield. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the station was the first to take delivery of the Hawker Hurricane. The station played a key role during the Battle of Britain, when fighters from several of its units, including No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, engaged enemy aircraft as part of the defence of London. It became the first base to have squadrons operating Supermarine Spitfire aircraft within German airspace.
During the construction of Heathrow Airport, Northolt was used for commercial civil flights, becoming the busiest airport in Europe for a time and a major base for British European Airways. More recently the station has become the hub of British military flying operations in the London area. Northolt has been extensively redeveloped since 2006 to accommodate these changes, becoming home to the British Forces Post Office, which moved to a newly constructed headquarters and sorting office on the site. Units currently based at RAF Northolt are No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron, the Queen's Colour Squadron, 600 (City of London) Squadron, No 1 Aeronautical Information Documents Unit, the Air Historical Branch and the Central Band of the RAF. The station has also been used as a filming location for productions made at Pinewood Studios.
RAF Northolt Night Photoshoot XXI, the latest in the series of twice-yearly events at the historic west London station, took place during the first week of October 2016. As ever, it was organised by the irrepressible Phil Dawe and his team, and raised money for the restoration of RAF Northolt’s Battle of Britain Operations Room.
The effort of attracting as much airframes as possible definitely paid of this time. 14 examples from 4 countries came to Northolt to pose for the lenses of the gathered spotters. From the home team there was a special tailed BAe-146-CC2. A Puma, special painted Chinook, special painted Hercules, Hawk, special painted King Air and the Op Granby Desert Pink Tornado GR4 from the Royal Air Force were joined by a pair of Orliks and a Casa from Poland, a Irish Casa and a pair of Gazelles and a PC-6 from the French army.
A great night and some very rare visitors made this one of the best night shoots held.
Northolt pre-dates the establishment of the Royal Air Force by almost three years, having opened in May 1915. Originally established for the Royal Flying Corps, it has the longest history of continuous use of any RAF airfield. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the station was the first to take delivery of the Hawker Hurricane. The station played a key role during the Battle of Britain, when fighters from several of its units, including No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, engaged enemy aircraft as part of the defence of London. It became the first base to have squadrons operating Supermarine Spitfire aircraft within German airspace.
During the construction of Heathrow Airport, Northolt was used for commercial civil flights, becoming the busiest airport in Europe for a time and a major base for British European Airways. More recently the station has become the hub of British military flying operations in the London area. Northolt has been extensively redeveloped since 2006 to accommodate these changes, becoming home to the British Forces Post Office, which moved to a newly constructed headquarters and sorting office on the site. Units currently based at RAF Northolt are No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron, the Queen's Colour Squadron, 600 (City of London) Squadron, No 1 Aeronautical Information Documents Unit, the Air Historical Branch and the Central Band of the RAF. The station has also been used as a filming location for productions made at Pinewood Studios.
RAF Northolt Night Photoshoot XXI, the latest in the series of twice-yearly events at the historic west London station, took place during the first week of October 2016. As ever, it was organised by the irrepressible Phil Dawe and his team, and raised money for the restoration of RAF Northolt’s Battle of Britain Operations Room.
The effort of attracting as much airframes as possible definitely paid of this time. 14 examples from 4 countries came to Northolt to pose for the lenses of the gathered spotters. From the home team there was a special tailed BAe-146-CC2. A Puma, special painted Chinook, special painted Hercules, Hawk, special painted King Air and the Op Granby Desert Pink Tornado GR4 from the Royal Air Force were joined by a pair of Orliks and a Casa from Poland, a Irish Casa and a pair of Gazelles and a PC-6 from the French army.
A great night and some very rare visitors made this one of the best night shoots held.
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| Hawk T1A Royal Air Force XX189/XR |
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| Puma HC2 Royal Air Force ZJ957 |
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| Hercules C5 Royal Air Force ZH880/880 |
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| PZL 130TC-2 Polish Air Force 049 |
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| Chinook HC4 Royal Air Force ZA683/AK |
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| CN.235M-100 Irish Air Corps 252 |
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| BAe-146-CC2 Royal Air Force ZE700 |
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| Tornado GR4 Royal Air Force ZG750 |
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| Tornado GR4 Royal Air Force ZG750 |
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| SA342M French Army 3862/GAL |
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| PC-6 French Army 888/MCB |
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| B200GT Royal Air Force ZK459/X |
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