Jackie
It aides the controller in identifying the aircraft he can see out the window. Imagine looking at 8 or so A319s or B737s all painted in the same company livery. A quick glance at the ground radar will remind him the order they are on the taxiway.
In 100 m of fog, the ground surface radar is no longer an 'aid', it is the only tool the ATC have, apart from pilot reporting. And since most airports don't utilise the 'taxiway block' system of LHR, one presumes it works.
This is the AMS system - showing primary imagery, secondary information, track trail and speed. What more does a controller need?
And as I said before - low vis delays are not in the taxying, but in the landing.
Jackie
(ATC familiarity flights) nothing at all to do with the DfT. Air Traffic Controllers, including trainees are still permitted to be in the cockpit on famil flights. It's more that company budgets restrict the access and availability. It's been a couple of years since my last famil flight.
Wrong.
It is the DofT that has banned jumpseat rides in the UK, and most of the airlines have interpreted that restriction as a blanket ban - including ATC familiarity flights.
This is fundamentally a DofT problem.
Flightman
I'm enjoying this, keep it up chaps, the noise issue in particular. How far do you think the noise of a 744 will travel across open water. Boris Island is not the great answer to noise people think it is.
Since the majority of approach and take-off noise is propagated from an airborne source, I fail to see that the surface water will make much difference. Unless you have data otherwise (that Hong Kong data had no maps and no comparisons).
And I don't know how you could suggest that approaches and departures over the Thames estuary can be anything like as bad as those same flights being over the center of London.
As far as surface radiated noise goes, which can be a nuisance with an aircraft on full thrust especially on high pressure days, noise deflectors along the runways (at a suitable distance) could greatly assist.
They are extensively used on European motorways, and are remarkably effective. Quite often, you don't even know that there is a busy motorway running right next to the town. Shame the English and American motorways do not have the same protection.
Obviously for aviation purposes, someone would have to calculate the optimum distance/height and frangibility of such fences, proportionate to flight safety.
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