RAF Нортхолт: Британ әуе күштерінің тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

Royal Air Force station in Greater London, England

Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip,

Northolt has one runway in operation, spanning , with a grooved asphalt surface. This airport is used for government and VIP transport to and from London. Northolt predates the establishment of the Royal Air Force by almost three years, having opened in May 1915, making it the oldest RAF base. 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 King'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.

Following Louis Blériot's first flight across the English Channel in 1909, the British Army considered the necessity of defending the United Kingdom from a future air attack. By May 1910, Claude Grahame White and other aviation pioneers were flying from the flat areas around Ruislip, although they soon sought an aerodrome for London, which was eventually built at Hendon. A proposal was made in 1912 for the area around where RAF Northolt now stands to be developed as "Harrow Aerodrome". The company established to develop the site was listed on the London Stock Exchange but the idea did not progress any further. The outbreak of the First World War necessitated a new aerodrome for the Royal Flying Corps. The Corps had received the Royal Warrant on 13 April 1912, whereupon Major Sefton Brancker of the War Office conducted aerial surveys in 1914 of Glebe Farm in Ickenham, and Hundred Acres Farm and Down Barnes Farm in Ruislip, looking for the most effective operating base for new squadrons. He settled on a site near Northolt Junction railway station; in January 1915 the government requisitioned the land. It is rumoured that the government official tasked with acquiring the land arrived at the site with his map upside down, leading to the government requisitioning and developing land on the wrong side of the railway line,

Construction of the new aerodrome, to be named "RFC Military School, Ruislip", began in January 1915. It opened on 3 May 1915, becoming known as Northolt and home to No. 4 Reserve Aeroplane Squadron which relocated from Farnborough. Most early RAF airfields were named after the nearest railway station, in this case Northolt Junction, later named Northolt Halt and now South Ruislip station; so the airfield became "Northolt" despite being in neighbouring South Ruislip. In the same year the airfield was extended westwards, and aircraft began flying sorties in defence of London against Zeppelin raids. No. 18 Squadron was formed in the same month as Northolt and equipped with Bleriot Experimental biplanes, whose slow speed led to heavy losses in combat with the German Fliegertruppe. Flights later resumed from the Great West Aerodrome owned by Fairey in Harmondsworth, which was eventually developed as Heathrow Airport. and reaching its full complement by February 1938. In the lead up to war, the RAF implemented a policy of adding concrete runways to important airfields; by 1939 Northolt had a new concrete runway. Later in 1939 RAF Hendon became one of its satellite airfields. Under the leadership of the station commander, Group Captain Stanley Vincent, the airfield was camouflaged to resemble civil housing. Vincent had been concerned that camouflaging the airfield as open land would look too suspicious from the air; Northolt was surrounded by housing and so a large open area would draw attention. A fake stream was painted across the main runway while the hangars were decorated to look like houses and gardens. The result was so effective that pilots flying to Northolt from other airfields often struggled to find it. Squadrons based at RAF Northolt during the battle shot down a total of 148 Luftwaffe aircraft and damaged 52. A further 25 were claimed by pilots and recorded as "probables". On 25 March, RAF Ferry Command became RAF Transport Command and thereafter used Northolt as a London base for the transfer of new aircraft from factories to airfields. Runway 26/08 was extended in February that year to accommodate the larger transport aircraft required by the Command. Northolt continued as a Sector Fighter Station until February 1944. As a result of this and the new larger runway, the smaller 02/20 runway closed in April 1944. In June 1951, BEA introduced helicopter services to Hay Mills Rotor Station in Birmingham and to London Heathrow, operated by a pair of Westland Sikorsky S51s. During 1952 a total of 50,000 air movements were recorded, making the airfield the busiest in Europe. Civil flights ceased when the central area at Heathrow opened in 1954 with Northolt reverting to sole military use in May that year. with a maximum of 7,000 a year. This limit remained in force in 2008. Northolt received its first gate guardian, a Spitfire F. Mk 22, in September 1963. Purchased from the RAF in 1969 for use in the film Battle of Britain, it was replaced by a Spitfire Mk XVI on 2 June 1970. This aircraft remained at the station until its removal on 8 September 1989 for restoration to full flying condition. The Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida, purchased the aircraft whereupon the station received a fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk IX as a replacement. The ensuing investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority's Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that both the crew's lack of understanding English and military air traffic control procedures had contributed significantly to the crash. Subsequently, after some thirty years of protracted consideration, an ILS was eventually fitted to Northolt's redefined Runway 25. In addition, aggregate filled safety pits were installed at each end of the runway by 21 January 1998 to protect road users in the event of another business jet or military transport failing to stop or ascend before the end of the runway. These suggestions were opposed by then MP for Ruislip Northwood, John Wilkinson, and eventually progressed no further. Much media attention focused on the airfield when the body of Diana, Princess of Wales, arrived there from Villacoublay airfield, in Paris, France, after her death in a car crash in the city on 31 August 1997. The Queen's Colour Squadron, then based at neighbouring RAF Uxbridge, acted as the bearer party, while the flight was met by the prime minister, the lord chamberlain, Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, secretary of state for defence, the RAF Northolt station commander and the RAF chaplain in chief. Since 1 June 1998, station commanders have served as aides de camp to the Queen. No. 303 Squadron recorded its 100th kill less than a month after commencing operations. Polish pilot Squadron Leader Franciszek Kornicki, who saw wartime service at RAF Northolt, was reunited with the Supermarine Spitfire he had flown at a special ceremony in September 2010. An additional memorial to British, Polish, Australian and New Zealand aircrew killed during the Battle of Britain was unveiled in September 2010. In October that year, the hangar which had housed Churchill's personal aircraft, the former Squadron Watch office, and the Operations Block were given Grade II listed building status. The Operations Block was a prototype of the "Dowding system", which facilitated the chain of command's issuance of orders for the interception of enemy aircraft and a scheme used for the first time during the Battle of Britain. Prior to the listing, the block was renamed the Sir Keith Park Building on 20 September in honour of the former No. 11 Group RAF commander who had also served as station commander at Northolt between 1931 and 1932. RAF Northolt is the only airfield used in the Battle of Britain still operated by the RAF. In January 2012 it was reported that the future of the station was under review by the Ministry of Defence as part of efforts to reduce defence spending. A proposed use has been as a satellite of Heathrow Airport, although a Ministry of Defence spokesman described that as unlikely. Four Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft arrived at the station from RAF Coningsby on 2 May 2012 to take part in a security exercise as part of preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. During the Games, the aircraft were deployed to the station to provide air superiority protection for London, in conjunction with other security measures by the British Armed Forces. The presence of the aircraft during the Olympics became the first time fighter aircraft had been stationed at RAF Northolt since the Second World War. The Typhoons left Northolt on 16 August following the conclusion of the Olympics. The overnight base of the London Air Ambulance moved to RAF Northolt from Denham Aerodrome in February 2013. The flying time from the station to its daytime base at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel is three minutes shorter than from Denham, which also provides savings for the Air Ambulance charity. In April 2013 the Ministry of Defence announced a proposal to increase the number of private flights from 7,000 to 12,000 per year as part of plans to increase the income generated by the airfield. The number of flights would be limited to 40 per day, and the increase would be phased in over three years to 2016. On 13 September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II's coffin arrived at Northolt from Edinburgh Airport, after which it was taken by road to Buckingham Palace. The flight was welcomed by a party including the Prime Minister Liz Truss and the Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace. An RAF bearer party formed by The Queen's Colour Squadron transferred the coffin from the aircraft to the hearse.

The Ministry of Defence launched Project MoDEL (Ministry of Defence Estates London) in 2006 to consolidate many of its London based operations at RAF Northolt. Under the project, RAF Bentley Priory, RAF Uxbridge, RAF West Ruislip, RAF Eastcote and the Inglis Barracks in Mill Hill were all closed between 2006 and 2010 with any remaining units transferring to Northolt. As a result, the station has been extensively redeveloped with new facilities to support these operations. The statue, Letter from Home, of a First World War soldier reading a letter was moved from outside Inglis Barracks in Mill Hill to RAF Northolt in June 2007. It is a replica of the statue at Paddington Station and was first unveiled in 1982. Following the relocation of the British Forces Post Office and Defence Courier Service from Mill Hill, a new headquarters and main sorting facility were built for their use which opened in November 2007. New hangar facilities for the use of No. 32 Squadron were also constructed, along with new personnel accommodation. The original 1920s Officers' Mess was refurbished as part of the work, which also saw the relocation of the replica Supermarine Spitfire gate guardian to the passenger terminal, and the unveiling of a new replica Hawker Hurricane gate guardian near the eastern station entrance in September 2010, commemorating the aircrew based at Northolt who had fought in the Battle of Britain. Upon the closure of RAF Uxbridge, control of the Battle of Britain Bunker passed to RAF Northolt to allow continued public visits. In December 2010 it was agreed that the South Hillingdon branch of the St. John Ambulance service would move from its existing base in RAF Uxbridge to new premises at Northolt. The station's new police dog section, featuring kennels and a quarantine building, opened in February 2012, marking the completion of building work.

In October 2018, a £23 million contract to resurface Northolt's runway was awarded to Lagan Aviation & Infrastructure as the main contractor, and Mott MacDonald in a support role. The runway closed and work began on 15 April 2019. No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron fixed wing flight relocated to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, whilst civilian aircraft used alternative civilian airports. Helicopters continued to operate from Northolt during the construction work. The first landing on the resurfaced runway was on 9 October 2019. The runway underwent testing as part of the recommissioning process before officially reopening on 1 November 2019 with commercial operations scheduled to resume on 11 November 2019.

The station is organised into two wings, with a number of lodger units. Within the Operations Wing, the station houses No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron RAF, and the Comms Fleet Force Headquarters. No. 32 Squadron currently flies two Dassault Falcon 900LX (known as the Envoy IV CC1 in RAF service) and one Leonardo GrandNew A109SP helicopter. The Support Wing of the station incorporates the Personnel Management Squadron, the Estates Management Squadron, the Station Management Squadron, the Force Development Squadron, Media and Communications, the Finance Department and Safety, Health and Environmental Protection. Its Operations Squadron, the Air Movements Squadron and the Airfield Support Squadron make up the station's Operations Wing. The Islanders had operated in electronic intelligence gathering, described by the RAF as performing "photographic mapping and light communications roles".