6 Days at Heathrow

[hoki1185]

Have just got back from 6 days in London courtesy of my employer with my responsibilities to them ending shortly after arrival.What to do in London in mid winter?Perhaps there was a hotel with a good view of runways.Reearch said yes there was-the Rennaissance-ask for the thitrd floor and declare yourself a plane enthusiast.On the way out flew Singapore Airlines A380 Singapore to London.Disappointing from an aviation enthusiasts perspective;felt like being in a large cavernous space devoid of any external experience.Had midrow seating that didn't help but winodow seats seemed indented and not aligned to windows and there was not that noise of a jetliner in flight-could not hear or feel reverse thrust on landing.However hydraulics for flaps and landing gear felt as though they were going to come up through the floor.The only reason I knew we were down was a heavy clunk.Dissapointing compared to the other planes I flew in:777-200 and 747-400.Heathrow 27R -my room window would have been 100-150 metres from the touchdown point.Triple gazed due noise but I was able to take out screw and roll back the third window leaving only double glazing between me and the runway-only really suitable for HDV vid camera although I tried a few stills.Basically from my bed a 340,Jumbo or 777 filled the window that extended right across the room.During the week all takeoff and landings used 27R and 27L simultaneously.Tower monitored sink and windsheer on finals but never changed to 09.First flights would arrive 0430,the heavies from across the globe.On arrival I put all Heathrow frequencies into the scanner and placed same under the camera so alot of filming was coincidental with atc tower to aircraft and these Atc guys ang gals were exceptionally talented calling up to 5 0r 6 aircraft aminute.They also did not suffer fools gladly but humourosly acknowledged their own mistakes.One call that stood out was an Asian pilot who was asked to turn off his strobes after landing.This was repeated 30 seconds later and then again with an obviously confused pilot finaaly being asked to 'turn off the white lights at the end of your wings'.Another significant incident on day one was a South African A340 crew(both pilots and crew 15 in number)being arrested for trying to bring 110 pounds of cannabis through customs.The plane which was on other days was parked up from morning to evening was still there the next morning.Visual highlight - observing a Air Canada 767 touch down on a FRONT bogey and BOUNCE.Busy times around 1700hrs-takeoffs every 30 seconds regardless of size being given clearance when takeoff planes were just passing 300 metre threshold from takeoff with up to 10 aircraft waiting behind.Maximum throughput is 3 movements per minute on both runways.Sunny days and drivig rain prevented filming but still managed 10 x 1 hour HD tapes.So I have seen as many 'heavies' on landing and takeoff as I probably will for the rest of my life.So if you want to get up close and personal at one of the busiest airports in the world check in to the Rennaissance Heathrow and ask for room3198.Ian

[hoki1185]

Forgot to post the report of foxes adjacent to runway on takeoff.None of the subsequent pilots declined the opportunity to takeff after being informed of this by ATC.Tower guy needs a sabbatical at Heathrow.Ian.

[ardypilot]

QUOTE

really suitable for HDV vid camera although I tried a few stills.[/quote]
Will you be uploading any of the footage/stills to here or youtube then?

[hoki1185]

Yea,went out and bought some video editing software today,so will post something in the future.Guess I would need to use You Tube for uploading HDV.What video format would you recommend?Would there be any problems using Air Traffic controllers voices on video without their consent?Ian.