Leytonstone flight path

[Nicholas49]

I was in Leytonstone, East London, this weekend and noticed aircraft flying north/south overhead. I was wondering if someone could tell me which airport they were flying to/from. I'm assuming Stansted?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

More information would be needed on altitude, type of aircraft, etc... Heathrow has been on easterlies for a few days so you may have seen Heathrow outbounds heading north. Traffic for Stansted would be quite high in that area. Leytonstone is north of London City so you probably would not see that traffic heading north or south. If it's small aircraft they could have been in transit from Biggin Hill to Elstree??

[Nicholas49]

Thanks Heathrow Director!

We are definitely talking about commercial jet aircraft.

I can't be sure it was moving north/south but it certainly looked that way from where I was standing.

Maybe it was ex-Heathrow traffic heading north.

Sorry, I can't be more precise on altitude, etc. Was just a by-stander.

[TopBunk]

I can't be sure it was moving north/south but it certainly looked that way from where I was standing.

Maybe it was ex-Heathrow traffic heading north.

WTF?

There is a slight difference! Heading south or north! Maybe east or west?

Give us a clue ffs

[Nicholas49]

Tone it down, mate.

I was NOT saying that the traffic was moving in ANY direction.

There were two levels of traffic, flying in opposite directions over Leytonstone.

I was saying that, from the ground and given that I did not have a compass in my hand, I cannot be 100% sure that the traffic was moving north/south.

The reason I posted was because I thought you guys would know the answer. Obviously not.

To put a very rough figure on it, I would say the altitude was APPROXIMATELY 5,000 ft for the lower level of traffic.

[Flightman]

Have a look at Heathrows Webtrak system, it may help you out! :ok:

http://lhr.webtrak-lochard.com/template/index.html

[Nicholas49]

The map doesn't go as far East as Leytonstone, but very useful. Thanks!

[Flightman]

I knew that, but thought it may give you a clue anyway. Good luck. :ok:

[Grasscarp]

What a fascinating site. I have just spent half an hour watching arrivals into Heathrow and the various speeds. Some down to 100 knots over Colnbrook! Others up to 30 knots faster than the one in front, then slowing down like mad.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Nicholas - Please don't be put off by TopBunks unfortunate attitude. He claims to be a Captain, which is very doubtful.

Unless one is familiar with local geography it is very difficult to know exactly where North is and if aircraft are turning it makes things more difficult. It is also very difficult to estimate the height of an aircraft from the ground. Large commercial jet traffic in that area heading northish around 5000ft was almost certainly outbound from Heathrow.

Grasscarp... The speed readout is probably groundspeed, which varies depending on various factors, not the least of which is wind. If you were flying you probably would not notice the sort off effects you see on those readouts. "Standard" speeds are about 210kts off the stacks and downwind, reducing to 180kts on base leg and around 160kts on final approach to 4 miles from touchdown after which speed is reduced. The actual speeds are varied by ATC for the best spacing on final approach to produce the highest landing rate for the condtions prevailing.

[PilotsPal]

Some of them will be coming out of London City (generally they'll be noisier as they're climbing) and some of them will be coming off the Lambourne stack on their way to the city and the turn for Heathrow.

[Nicholas49]

Well, I hope he isn't a captain with an attitude like that.

I do realise that this was an almost impossible question to answer, given that I simply can't give sufficiently precise details. I just wanted to get some ideas on what was flying over East London. Your answers and thoughts have really helped.

I too noticed the very low aircraft speeds on that website. They had me wondering "do commercial aircraft really slow that much on final?" There was a 747 landing at Heathrow at 108 knots, which seemed a tad slow, even to a PPL like myself.

Thanks all.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<some of them will be coming off the Lambourne stack on their way to the city and the turn for Heathrow. >>

On the day in question Heathrow was on easterlies so the LAM inbounds would be well north of Leytonstone at stack level.

Nicholas. Speeds you are seeing on that web site are probably ground speeds - see my earlier posting. Airspeed on final approach will be close to 160 kts from about 10 miles to about 4, then it rapidly decreases. However, if there is a 20 kt wind blowing, the 160kts airspeed becomes 140kts groundspeed. If the wind is coming from a direction other than straight down the runway the ground speed will be faster, but still less than the airspeed.

[Nicholas49]

Heathrow Director, I did read your earlier post! My comment was in reply to it.
Point noted re. easterlies.