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:-
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:-
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:-
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/portal/page/Heathrow+noise%5EGeneral%5EWhat+we+do+about+it%5EMeasures+already+in+place%5ERunway+use%5ERunway+alternation/bb67ff6b59b53210VgnVCM10000036821c0a____/448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____/
Hope this helps.
Neil
