Visual approaches used to be very a very regular thing in days gone by. I seem to remember many curved approaches from the north to 2 mile final (well inside the outer marker - St. Mary's fields Osterley) on 28R (27R) were a regular occurance, especially in the early evening, with British Midland seemingly specialising in them. They used to come very low over the house in Heston right wing down. Always impressive. Then there were the visual runway switches inside the markers - bloody impressive to watch, especially when it was a BA Tristar (showing my age) or bigger.