Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 XJ729 was among the stars at a recent night photography shoot

The classic helicopter owned and operated by Andrew Whitehouse, and part of the Historic Helicopters stable, is on the UK register as G-BVGE and is painted in the yellow livery it wore when serving with 22 Squadron. On October 13 it appeared at a night shoot at Northolt.

Photographer Scott Lester reports: “The weather has been on side and the Northolt Nightshoot was a real success. 150 of us attended the event, the first at Northolt for more than three years, the enforced gap due to the pandemic and the resurfacing of the runway in 2019. It was a great night – all credit to Phillip Dawes and the team at RAF Northolt for organising it. The Whirlwind ground-running together with Hurricane Mk.I R4118 were two highlights.”

XJ729 first flew in 1956 and operated in a search and rescue capacity with 22 Squadron from RAF St Mawgan. It was upgraded from HAR.2 to HAR.10 standard in the early 1960s before spending time stationed at RAF Leconfield, Leuchars, Coltishall and Chivenor, and finally Valley, on Anglesey. WITH THANKS TO SCOTT LESTER