AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 74 / 86

Plate 74 of 86 · Cold War · Medium support helicopter

Westland/Aérospatiale Puma HC.1

Puma HC.1, painted as XW222 ‘Trembling Triple Two’, the Ulster Aviation Society’s Westland/Aérospatiale SA 330E Puma HC.1, the twin-Turmo medium support helicopter assembled by Westland in 1971–72, flown by Nos. 230, 18 and 33 Squadrons (with No. 230 Squadron at Aldergrove, where its crews named it), retired at the end of 2012 without conversion to HC.2 and on display at Maze Long Kesh since July 2014, shown as it is displayed there with both cabin doors run forward, a GPMG in the starboard doorway, the four main blades parked in an X and the intake barrels fitted, painted in the scheme it carries today: overall faded RAF green with dark heat panels behind the exhausts, low-visibility red and blue roundels and a small dark grey ‘XW222’ on the tail boom, red jettison outlines round the cabin doors, the RAF logo, ‘Trembling Triple Two’ in yellow script and the yellow No. 230 Squadron crest on the doors, the squadron’s tiger badge on both cockpit doors, a tiger’s head on the starboard nose, dark grey main blades and green-grey tail rotor blades with red tips.

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as XW222 ‘Trembling Triple Two’, the Ulster Aviation Society’s Westland/Aérospatiale SA 330E Puma HC.1, the twin-Turmo medium support helicopter assembled by Westland in 1971–72, flown by Nos. 230, 18 and 33 Squadrons (with No. 230 Squadron at Aldergrove, where its crews named it), retired at the end of 2012 without conversion to HC.2 and on display at Maze Long Kesh since July 2014, shown as it is displayed there with both cabin doors run forward, a GPMG in the starboard doorway, the four main blades parked in an X and the intake barrels fitted, painted in the scheme it carries today: overall faded RAF green with dark heat panels behind the exhausts, low-visibility red and blue roundels and a small dark grey ‘XW222’ on the tail boom, red jettison outlines round the cabin doors, the RAF logo, ‘Trembling Triple Two’ in yellow script and the yellow No. 230 Squadron crest on the doors, the squadron’s tiger badge on both cockpit doors, a tiger’s head on the starboard nose, dark grey main blades and green-grey tail rotor blades with red tips. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1012 KB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (); engine, crew and dimensions are for the Puma HC.1 modelled here.

History

The Puma HC.1

The Puma was designed by Sud Aviation in the early 1960s to give the French Army a medium transport helicopter that could carry a section of troops in any weather. Two Turbomeca Turmo turboshafts sat side by side on the cabin roof, driving a four-bladed main rotor, with the tail rotor on the starboard side of the boom and the main wheels retracting into sponsons on the cabin sides. The prototype SA 330 first flew on 15 April 1965. Sud Aviation also built the much larger, three-engined SA 321 Super Frelon, which served the French Navy for some forty years; one is preserved at The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare.

In 1967 Britain and France agreed to share three helicopter programmes: the Puma and Gazelle would be French designs built in both countries, and the Lynx a Westland design. The RAF ordered 40 Pumas, later 48, as the Puma HC.1, and Westland assembled them at Yeovil from French-built parts. No. 33 Squadron formed with the type at Odiham in June 1971, and Nos. 230 and 18 Squadrons followed. Each Puma could carry 16 fully equipped troops or an underslung load, and its sliding doors on both sides let troops leave quickly.

RAF Pumas flew in Northern Ireland for most of their service, moving troops and police between bases near the border, and served in the Gulf War, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in disaster relief from Mozambique to Belize. The HC.1 was withdrawn at the end of 2012, while 24 airframes were rebuilt as HC.2s with new Makila engines, a glass cockpit and better protection. The HC.2s were retired in March 2025, ending 54 years of RAF Puma flying. Several HC.1s are preserved in British museums.

This airframe

Puma HC.1 XW222

XW222The airframe modelled

XW222 was one of the RAF’s 48 Westland-assembled Puma HC.1s, delivered in the early 1970s. Over some forty years it served with Nos. 230, 18 and 33 Squadrons, and with No. 230 Squadron, which flew Pumas from Aldergrove in Northern Ireland, it gained the name “Trembling Triple Two”. It was not among the airframes chosen for conversion to HC.2 and was withdrawn from use on 31 December 2012. On 29 July 2014 it was handed over to the Ulster Aviation Society, and it is now displayed in the society’s hangar at Maze Long Kesh near Lisburn, a few miles from the airfields where it flew. The model shows it as photographed there: overall faded RAF green with dark heat panels behind the exhausts, low-visibility red and blue roundels and a small dark grey “XW222” on the tail boom, red jettison outlines round the cabin doors, the RAF logo, “Trembling Triple Two” in yellow script and the yellow No. 230 Squadron crest on the doors, the squadron’s tiger badge on both cockpit doors, a tiger’s head on the starboard nose and the intake barrels fitted late in its service, with both cabin doors run forward, a machine gun in the starboard doorway and the main blades parked in an X.

See it at Ulster Aviation Society (Maze Long Kesh)

Where to see one

In the gazetteer

The gazetteer records the Puma HC.1 in 5 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.

Every airframe and serial All 86 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.