Did you know that the Ascent/UKMFTS Juno aircraft at RAF Shawbury have now flown more than 103,000 hours? In fact, in total, our rotary wing aircraft have flown more than 115,000 hours as of August 2025, as part of the UK’s military flying training programme.
The Airbus H135 has been in use by UKMFTS since 2017 and we have 29 aircraft based at Shawbury and used for basic and advanced rotary wing training.
But what’s the Juno like to fly?
“Flying the modern, glass-cockpit Airbus H135 ‘Juno’ and H145 ‘Jupiter’ aircraft has been thoroughly enjoyable and the capabilities they provide are often better than some frontline aircraft. From a pilot’s point of view, the cutting-edge helicopters are intuitive to fly and provide the perfect platform to instruct a multitude of profiles from.
“Flying one to two instructional sorties a day to help develop our nation’s future military aviators is truly inspirational and thoroughly rewarding each time I step into the cockpit. Every day, every flight, and every trainee, brings a fresh new challenge which keeps the flying both varied and immensely satisfying.”
Ascent Qualified Helicopter Instructor, George Thompson
Statistics
Length: 39ft 8.5 in (12.10m)
Height: 12ft 3.5in (3.75m)
Max take-off weight: 6,570lb (2,980kg)
Max altitude: 10,000ft (without oxygen)
Max speed: 150kt (278km/h)
