On Thursday, March 6, 2025, the 32nd edition of the RAF Northolt Nightshoot took place under near-perfect conditions. Attendees enjoyed a clear night with no rain, wind or cloud cover – even the temperature was kind! The entire AeroResource team was present to witness the impressive line-up of aircraft Phil Dawe MBE, RAF Northolt Station Commander and the event volunteers had secured for the event. The line up didn’t disappoint, as the UK’s Joint Aviation Command went all out, showcasing three of their front line assets in attendance; two from the Army Air Corps and one from the Royal Air Force.

With such a stellar line up advertised for RAF Northolt Nightshoot XXXII, it was no surprise that the event drew more people than ever before and unfortunately this did bring with it some challenges. During certain aircraft ground runs, photographers and onlookers were five rows deep, making it difficult to move for varied photo angles. Some photographers missed capturing the Puma HC2, widely regarded as the star attendee. Many had expected the Army helicopters to depart first, but when the Puma started up early than anticipated, it came as a great surprise leaving little opportunity to reposition.

As one of the premier events on the UK’s winter night shoot calendar, Northolt Nightshoot events continue to grow in popularity. Despite concerns about crowd capacity at the event, the RAF Northolt Nightshoot XXXII delivered excellent aircraft participation, photo opportunities and most of all an enjoyable evening.

Royal Air Force Puma HC2 (XW224)

Given its scheduled withdrawal from operational service at the end of March 2025, the attendance by XW224 Puma HC2 from RAF Benson was an outstanding attendee and a real coup. With less than four weeks before the types’ retirement and almost 54 years after the original HC1 entered operational service with 33 Squadron in 1971, this was likely to be one of the types’ final public appearances. For all this time, the Puma has been the Command’s key ‘medium’ lift capable helicopter, and with no replacement on the horizon, it will be sorely missed. XW224 was bought to the RAF Northolt Nightshoot XXXII by 33 Squadron based at RAF Benson, Oxfordshire.

Army Air Corps Apache AH64E & Wildcat AH1 (ZM405 & ZZ384)

As the Puma prepared to depart, attention quickly turned to the Army Air Corps front line attendees which came in the shape of the Army’s most recent recruit; an Apache AH-64E Guardian from 3 Regiment/663 Squadron based at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk and a Wildcat AH1 from 659 Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset.

On March 5, 2025, the UK received the last of its 50 AH-64E Guardian attack helicopters at Boeing manufacturing facility at Mesa in Arizona where it will remain until system testing is complete in 2026. The 50 aircraft were procured in July 2016 at a cost of £1.7billion. The first AH-64E’s were delivered to Wattisham in November 2020, with the British AH-64E fleet achieving initial operational readiness in May 2023. AH-64E training takes place at the Aviation Army Centre at Middle Wallop in Hampshire.

At present the Army Air Corps has 34 Wildcat AH1 helicopters which are all based at RNAS Yeovilton. In service, the aircraft performs a range of tasks on the battlefield including reconnaissance, command and control, transportation of troops and material, plus the provision of force protection. The Wildcat can operate in both the land and littoral environment. The Wildcat present on the night was fitted with a 0.5 M2 Heavy Machine Gun which was a welcome addition to the standard aircraft configuration!

French Air Force Casa 295 & EC725 R2 Caracal (196 & 2619)

The French Air and Space Force have been regular attendees to recent Northolt Nightshoots and they once again continued their support at RAF Northolt Nightshoot XXXII. Recent attendances have been led by Pilatus PC-21 and EMB-121 Xingu’s so it was welcome to see variety in the French offering in the form of a CASA CN235 and a Eurocopter EC725 Caracal. The Caracal, an upgraded long range development of the Puma design provided a stark contrast in the development of this helicopter programme against the RAF’s Puma HC2 also in attendance. The helicopter from EH 1/67 Pyrénées made the sizeable journey from BA 120 Cazaux to attend the Nightshoot and whilst the helicopter did not run on the night it was a welcome attendee beneath the lights. The CN235 from 64e escadre de transport based at BA 105 Évreux-Fauville did however run and provided a number of configurations of external lights and ramp positions during its short ground run. The efforts made by the French forces at the Northolt events continue to be appreciated and AeroResource hope this ongoing support continues at upcoming events.

Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130J (130601)

130601 provided a fourth appearance of a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130J Hercules at a Northolt Nightshoot, proof just how much the Canadians love to support the RAF Northolt Nightshoots whilst on deployment in the United Kingdom. The aircraft is stationed in the UK as part of the current ‘Air Task Force Prestwick’ deployment. This detachment of 436 Squadron ‘Elephants’, 8 Wing stationed at CFB Trenton are supporting a number of operations, primarily “Operation Reassurance”, providing support and aid to Ukraine. It was also good to see the crew bringing with them a few deployment patches to sell at the event however numbers were limited, so well done to the lucky few who managed to bag one! Unlike previous events the aircraft did not ground run during the event, yet still provided some nice photo opportunities from the top of the raised platform.

Civilian Operated Aircraft

A recent import to the UK is the beautiful Bell 47H-1, this immaculate example arrived from Canada last year and is now the only flying example of the two in Europe. With only 33 produced by Bell, and one of only eight examples left in the world, this 1955 build is certainly one of the rarest aircraft to be displayed at any of the previous night shoots. Currently still flying with its Canadian registration, C-FJWF lives on a private site in Wiltshire, and is planned to be put on the British register shortly. Also a special note to the Pilot who dressed in 1960s period attire for the occasion, running the aircraft wearing a top hat and tails.

The two based London Air Ambulance Airbus H135’s were also on show. Both inside their hangar G-LAAA & G-LAAB were on display together for the first time since taking over from the older McDonnell MD902’s that served the capital for a number of years.

The team at AeroResource would like to extend their thanks to Phil Dawe, the RAF Northolt Station Commander and everyone involved in the RAF Northolt nightshoots, with a special mention to all the nations and aircrew supporting the event.

You can find out more about the RAF Northolt Nightshoots here: https://www.northoltnightshoots.com

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