Hi guys,

I was wondering if you can help me, im going to be in London for a week in about 4 weeks time and ive not done any photgraphy at Heathrow before. Where is the best place to take pics? Hatton Cross? Also what aircraft types/movements would be good to keep an eye out for? (stuff like Middle Eastern vintage 747s etc)

iran air fly classics into heathrow every day (or 4 times a week). usually a 742/1 maybe if your lucky a SP.

comes in at about 11am and goes out around 1700, but usually are delays outbound

There are some excellent points along the perimeter for landers when on 27L / 27R. If you google Myrtle Avenue when on 27L, that's 5 minutes from Hatton Cross, or you can shoot landers from 27R from the road around the BA Maintenence Area. Both locations have options when the sun moves around in the summer to cross to the other side.

27L departures can be shot from the perimeter road that runs from T5 to Cargo, and has a handy petrol station to fill up on food and drink. LEave the car and go for a wander is the best bet. Most of the scheduled traffic is new with next to no vintage.

Good luck.

thanks guys, and the Iran Air is high on the list of stuff to see. I dont drive so it would need to be locations that are within 15 mins walk or so from a tube/train station

Emirates: from 16th January EK 003/004 LHR-DXB 4 weekly A380 (x345), 3 weekly B777
Aer Lingus increases LHR-BFS from three to four times a day from 28th March
Gulf Air maintains thrice daily flights to Bahrain during summer

For photos taken at the 09 approach is there anywhere good (not likely to be bothered for a few hours) outside the front of T5 to take pics from?

flying offficer kite, at both ends of the upper level car ramp (check in/departure level) it's possible to take photos of aircraft on short final with 09 operation. On the north end there is high fence (due to gate stands just below), but if you use a 100-400 mm lens, as I did, you can get pictures of aircaft further out without any obstructions. If the wind comes from the west, you can nice take off shots - and then you don't need to worry about the fence. Be aware, at both ramp ends there are special smoking area close by - for me it wasn't that bad since I'm a smoker ;)

On the north end there is high fence (due to gate stands just below), but if you use a 100-400 mm lens, as I did, you can get pictures of aircaft further out without any obstructions.

If you cross the entry slip-road and go behind the crash barrier you are then clear of the security fence. All you have to worry about then is the forest of lamp posts!! Also well away from the smokers!

My camera has a narrow lens and a good zoom, and usually it fits well between the fences of most airports, I assume the fence on top of the car park (if i brave the smokers and cant find anywhere else) would have gaps just big enough to do this?

I fear your lens isn't that small - the openings are around one by one inch

I was with the missus at the Hounslow Space Waye recycling center on Saturday. Filty, mucky, and smelly - but she is good with the kids.

Actually been there many times but on that day they were landing on 27L - amazing sights.

If you make your way to the sort of Industrial park around that area there must be some good spots to get them landing or taking off, depending on the runway in use. Plus there is a cafe on the site.

hi guys, thanks for that. My trip is next week. With the days shortening would it be fair to say i'll get good light upto about 4pm? Keeping my eyes open for a nice Iran Air 747-100/SP :P

Nice one....you have probably all just published a nice long list of potential security breaches.....you should all be proud

I think during the winter Iran air are using the A300. It seems to be the A300 having made most appearances recently.

TOWTEAMBASE, you're welcome to point out each and every security breach in this thread.

As long as you concentrate on taking pictures of aircraft in the air and avoid taking pictures of the buildings inside the restricked area you're home free. I will also recommend having the Anti-Terrorist hotline number 0800 789 321 on your mobile speed dial, and use the number if you ever should see any suspicious activity. There are a number conscious aviation enthusiasts, but there are also a pile unconscious ones. At some of the UK airports the local police has indicated that they need your help, here is an example from Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield (DSA).

http://www.plane-spotter.com/Jpegs/400/Anti_terror_DSA.jpg

Thank you LN-KGL, my concern was the comment about going behind a barrier and being "clear of the security fence"!!! could be taken the wrong way in the wrong hands

cheers anyway for the donny poster, maybe they ALL do it

You left out the important word 'crash' to the barrier TOWTEAMBASE. Groundloop is talking about the heavy concrete lumps/waist low steel fence along the pavement edge with the aim of preventing cars hiting the pedestrians (marked with a green line below).

http://www.plane-spotter.com/Jpegs/400/LHR_T5_North_upper_level.jpg

The "clear of the security fence" that Groundloop writes is to avoid getting the 10 feet high security fence (marked with red above) in your lens line. To achieve this you either move further away from the fence so that you see the aircraft flying above the fence or you can move over to the western part of the ramp (beyond the green line) which is without any security fence.

Nice one....you have probably all just published a nice long list of potential security breaches.....you should all be proud

If you thought he was really going to be airside beyond the fence, I assume that you ought to have done something beyond internet sarcasm?

thanks guys :) if i get any decent pics i can post a link onto here

skipness......come on.........you have to be "plane crazy" to think hed be airside, but wouldnt you be sus if you spotted someone behind a "crash"barrier at an international airport with a camera .....they didnt take too kindly in greece remember

If its any consulation, and i can vouch for most other aircraft photographers i know, getting involved with the local police can be a great thing.

Im an airport worker anyway, but by getting involved with the police and forming an airport watch group, we were given an ID card, security check 1st of course, and if we see anything suspicious we phone up our contacts. The police and airports know who we are and are happy for us to be there whenever we like.

I know Heathrow is nowhere near as friendly as say Manchester, but it would be nice if a scheme could be set up

TOWTEAMBASE:
they didnt take too kindly in greece remember

That bunch was really stupid - taking pictures at a military airport with a known photo ban. Military airport in Greece is a bit different from the RAF airfields - you won't see a sign like this at a Greek airport:

http://www.plane-spotter.com/Jpegs/840/SpringTour_2008-04-25/ViewingEnclosureWaddington.jpg

Not really, as the first thing across your mind ought to be "aviation enthusiast" as I refuse to be cowed into submission of assuming everyone is a mass murdering terrorist. Such assumptions are having a pernicious effect on the Police already as it's an easy tick in a box to detain someone that appears to be an aviation enthusiast and do a quick search under the Terrorism legislation. Try reciting a list of war dead in Whitehall and people have been arrested for illegal protests.....perspective please!

Might I ask what you might consider him to be doing that far from an aircraft that would be considered
1) Illegal
2) Harmful

In fairness, many of the Police are sensible and happy to leave you be. These are the guys who know where to expect to see spotters and regret moving them on, even though they are all aware no harm has / is being done.

I know Heathrow is nowhere near as friendly as say Manchester, but it would be nice if a scheme could be set up

I agree the idea is splendid but I think wholly impractical. However I am aware of what is going on around me and there have been occasions when I have been close to phoning the Police.Once in Dublin, two very Pakistani looking men were engaged in lots of photography but clearly weren't spotters, ie no notebooks or SLRs, and were clearly agitated as I was obviously gawping at them. I was so busy that I nearly fell backwards off the hillock I was on and was only saved from looking a proper t*** by the kindness and fast reflexes of the poor guy I had assumed to be reconnaisance for a terrorist cell. It's never easy, and I appreciate your intentions are spot on towteambase.

For those of you that don't know the rules the UK police has to follow, check this link:

Photography and Counter-Terrorism legislation | Home Office (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/publications/home-office-circulars/circulars-2009/012-2009/)

If you know the rules and your aircraft even a foreigner like me has no problems with the patrolling UK police - one of them has even become a close friend :ooh:

<<In fairness, many of the Police are sensible and happy to leave you be. These are the guys who know where to expect to see spotters and regret moving them on, even though they are all aware no harm has / is being done>>

Just don't go spotting on public roads around Farnborough or you are likely to receive a visit from Noddy. My wife and I got into conversation with the guy who "apprehended" us because we had a mutual friend in the police. He explained that to achieve his targets it was far easier to stop and search aircraft spotters than become involved in punch-ups in the local shopping precinct. He still went through the nause of filling in report forms, etc.

On the other side of the coin, my wife and I have spent many hours photographing the 27R landers at Heathrow by parking on the grass verge opposite the long stay car park near 27R threshold. Plenty of airport security and police vehicles passed within feet of us yet never once were we questioned.

Even at Manchester you can get a "third degree". The Cheshire Police covers the southside of Manchester Airport and they are clearly not as skilled as the Greater Manchester Police spotting true aviation enthusiasts.

Thanks skipness, just tryin to make a point thats all. If they want to while away the hours that way, then im all for it, its just im an airport employee too, and because of certain events in the past, I feel like the criminal every time i go into work (no milk, no yoghurt no blah blah) they just dont need a helping hand if you get my point. and its not just those either, journo's with a story to sell can be as dangerous....TRUST NO ONE !!

LN-KGL

You really want to get yourself acquainted with the facts behind the Greek planespotters episode.

1) They had permission to visit the bases

2) They did not take photos

3) The Greek Air Force actually don't seem to mind people taking pictures at open days anymore

Before you call people stupid, try a bit of research.

OK Nopax,thanx, my comment was a bit harsh, but then the incident happened only two months after 9/11. We end up talking about intelligence here.

Three of us faced a similar dilemma. We arrived Leeds Bradford Airport on the evening of 9 August 2006 while on a spotter trip. We stayed the night at Travelodge close to the airport and the next morning was very silent - the only thing we heard were birds singing and police cars rushing by. After a team meeting that morning we decided not to visit the planned airports that day. We had breakfast at LBA, got our rental car and left for North Yorkshire and the "heart beat country". The two next days we visited aviation museums (Yorkshire Air Museum and RAF Museum Cosford) before making a short visit to the Avation Viewing Park at MAN before we returned home with Ryanair from Liverpool. We boarded the aircraft with a transparent plastic bag with RAF Museum Cosford printed on it containing a passport, a boarding card receipt and a wallet. I can't show any pictures from the last day since all photo equipment had to be packed down in the checked in suitcase. MOL must have cried that day too, he was not allowed to take extra pay for heavy suitcases and there wasn't anything on board to sell - not even one bottle of water :ouch:

Here is a quote from the first BBC article about the case, and it clearly says 'Film seized'

UK tourists detained in Greece
The arrests came after an air show

By Paul Wood in Athens

Twelve British citizens have been arrested in Greece and may face charges of spying.
The twelve, eleven men and one woman, are being held in a jail in Kalamata, in the southern Peloponnese.
They are due to appear in court on Monday.
British diplomats in Athens are puzzled and, in the words of one source, deeply baffled as to the exact circumstances behind their detention.
They were arrested on Thursday, near the air base at Kalamata, where there had just been an air show.

'Film seized'
The original charge was taking photographs in a restricted area, although British officials are concerned that this has now been hardened to a charge of spying.
The group have told diplomats they didn't have cameras, only binoculars.
But Greek sources say that film has been seized, showing pictures of aircraft.
The 12 are being held in the local jail attached to the police station in Kalamata, where conditions are said to be good.
Their lawyer has reportedly expressed confidence that the whole affair will turn out to be a misunderstanding - plane-spotting gone wrong, and not a major spying scandal.

Correct, film was taken; from cameras that had been left in the minibus as the group had been told in advance that photography would not be allowed. The films, when developed, were found to contain pictures from the Athens museum (permitted) and some shots of retired aircraft taken in a civilian scrapyard. The fact that all charges were eventually dropped confirmed that the whole saga was the result of a policeman who was trying to gain some 'brownie points' by getting innocent people arrested. Once this had happened neither he nor the Greek Airforce officer who was behind the arrest were willing to back down.

The group members were well aware of the post-9/11 situation, and indeed had contacted the authorities in Greece during September asking if the trip would need to be cancelled. They were told, in writing, that they would still be welcomed. Some welcome.