Anotherthing: I fly to LHR a few times next month and I will try to keep closer book on exactly the number and specifics of the heading assignments so as to be more accurate in my inquiry (or do you say enquery?!). It is always a serious problem for me when I try to work and write from memory as I consider it to have been a good pattern if I remember where I parked my car in the employee's parking lot and then of course there is the matter of the keys...
I will definately try to pop in and pay a visit as it will really be a time-well-spent learning experience. As an old salt I used to fly with in the military used to say over and over "just beacause you do not know
why does not mean that there is not a good reason behind
what is being done" I would love to see the bigger picture of what the controllers are dealing with and their airspace constraints.
In the meantime, I will have to see where that car was parked...