BMI Fokker 100

[oceanicclarence]

Hi guys, im a PPL, IMC and night rating holding ATPL wannabe, and I often get to fly to Heathrow on business from Teesside. can anyone tell me what is the usual route the plane will take from Teesside to LHR ? from what I can gather from looking out of the window you go over the pennines, down over Manchester, Birmingham, then over Oxford and into Heathrow. would like any info in order to make my usual morning flight more interesting ! I always use BMI and the aircraft is usualy a Fokker 100 or a B737. any help or interesting info is appreciated.

[QQ Tester]

Hi,

I too use the 'Midland' service between LHR and MME and often wondered about the ‘zig-zag’ route up and down the country. From LHR the route is generally as you state; Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield/Leeds.

Just before Christmas last year I was on the morning flight up to Teesside (Fokker 100) when the crew made a fairly dramatic descent from the cruse altitude to about FL100 due to an air conditioning fault (it must have got to over 30 degrees C in the cabin). The descent was over East Midlands airport which I don’t normally notice – maybe the crew were considering a possible divert. Anyway, the reminder of the flight was one of the best I’ve had – superb ‘low level’ views over Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds then over the moors and Middlesbrough/Stockton for a 23 landing.

The route is generally the same as you mentioned but I guess, like all flights, it’s subject to air traffic control’s demands so could route anywhere theoretically.

I too would like to know more!

QQ

[expedite_climb]

Hi guys, the routing is basically due to the airways available.

Although MME has controlled airspace immediately around it there are no airways that join this airspace. The route the aircraft must normally take to join upper controlled airspace is effectively following the rwy 23 centreline to join north of leeds (with so RAF a/c dodging on the way !).

The STAR (standard arrival routing) into LHR from the north comes in from oxford way to dodge luton / stansted.

Its all really to do with a lot of airfields in a small country - you should try the arrival to LTN from the south when they are using 08 - I almost got dizzy last time i did that !