Heathrow Airport

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BluHawk

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James
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Hi guys

I'm working next week down near heathrow airport and wanted to get some good shots.

Can anybody recommend any good locations or ideal photos to grab in that area?

I'm without a car so won't be able to do much exploring.

Thanks
 
Heathrow is a big area...myself and 3 friends spent from dawn, 5.00am till mid afternoon walking around it taking pics and we still probably didn't cover the entire area. If you want some street/candid stuff just go to terminal 5 or terminal 3. You'll probably get better plane shots if they are landing coming in over the M25 as they get very low and are going slow over your head.

I parked in BATH RD, Longford and walked back to Perimiter road in front of T5 for my plane shots. You can see a small selection from the morning on my flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urhere/
 
One of the more bizarre post-sept11th "security" decisions was to close the observation roof at Heathrow. Closely followed by the police agressively moving-on anyone who was stood or parked near the fences taking pictures. As if anyone would manage to get a SAM missile out in the middle of a group of obsessive aircraft spotters without being trampled to death by an enraged anoracks-clad mob... (it would be far easier to do it from Hounslow Heath...woops I've probably just set off a blinking red eye again...)

A moments googling found this including which lenses you'll need...!
 
Is Houndslow on the take off or landing? they'll be on the take off route if they know what they are doing.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Is Houndslow on the take off or landing? they'll be on the take off route if they know what they are doing.
Click to expand...

most of the time they are landing on that side, unless the wind is blowing from the unusual direction. Which means you'd have to be a more than normally incompotent terrorist to miss, as long as optically guided, as dead slow and in a straight line... when the places take off from Heathrow, they all over the place in random directions, to ensure they annoy as many people as possible.:bang:

Photographically, instead of tactically, speaking, we watched (with a small tear) the last 3 Concordes come in to land from there (well its just round the corner so be rude not to). I took pictures on a crappy early digitial camera, and so can't even decode the files nowadays - sometimes being an early adopter has its downsides (quite apart from the eyewatering cost...).
 
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The spot Miacat has mentioned is your best bet.
From Hatton Cross turn right to the the dual carriageway. You'll see a petrol station down the road. Go past the station and the field with the horses until you reach a green.This is Myrtle Avenue.
Runway 27L is scheduled for landing next week from 6am to 3pm before switching to 27R.

Paul
 
Hello,

I posted some information on Heathrow in the transport section a few months ago, which I have copied below. Myrtle Avenue / Cains Lane is the area referred to by Micat.

Regarding security, so long as you are sensible, you shouldn't have any problems. Keep away from the perimeter fences, and you won't be able to spend long on the car park roofs before you will get moved on, but apart from that you will be ok.

Neil

Hi,

You certainly can't beat a trip to the Myrtle Avenue / Cains Lane area - watching widebodied aircraft fly by just a couple of hundred feet from landing is quite something!!

Here are a few photos taken from here:-


G-BUSB by IndiaEcho Photography, on Flickr


G-CIVE by IndiaEcho Photography, on Flickr

If you have a car, at this time of the year I prefer to go to a spot a little further away. Head away from the airport towards the Hounslow Urban Farm / Feltham Cemetery (Google for directions) . When you get to the farm, drive in but continue along the road past the farm towards the cemetery and you will see an area where you can park and watch the aircraft from the comfort (and warmth) of your car. It isn't as complicated as this sounds when you are there, and this photo was taken from this location:-


G-CPET by IndiaEcho Photography, on Flickr


Both these locations are dependent on landing aircraft using Runway 27 Left. If they are landing on the northerly runway (27 Right) then you can walk round to the threshold of the runway in 20-30 minutes from Hatton Cross and get similar views, albeit lamp posts tend to get in the way if you are not careful.

However, all isn't lost, as excellent views of departing traffic can be found from a grass bank alongside the Southern Perimeter Road near an Esso petrol station which is where this photo was taken from:-


G-BNLF by IndiaEcho Photography, on Flickr

To get there, try a bus to the cargo terminal and then a few minutes walk or if driving park in Oakes Road, Stanwell, from where a path takes you to the side of the road.

If they are landing on Runway 09 Left, a field under the approach offers similar views to Myrtle. It is adjacent to Stanwell Moor Road, and it is possible to park on the side of the road (although make sure you don't blck the pavement for pedestrians) or alternatively a 10-15 minute walk from Terminal 5 should get you there.

As you can see, Heathrow is very dependent upon the runway that is being used. When aircraft are landing from the west (from over the M25) they only land on 09 Left.

However, if they are coming in from the east (which they do about 75% of the time when the wind is from the west) they land on one of the 27 runways until 3pm when they swap to the other for the remainder of the day. The following link takes you to a page on the Heathrow website which will allow you to see what runway will be in use when.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/porta...0357e120a____/

Hope this helps.

Neil
 
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