Heathrow 30 years ago - little changed from today
Thread Starter
Heathrow 30 years ago - little changed from today
While rummaging through the loft (getting out the Christmas decorations, of course!) I found an aerial photograph of the whole Heathrow central area taken in 1974. Interesting to see what has changed and what hasn't in 30 years.
In fact so little has changed in a generation. For all that building work over the years, unless you look closely you might think it was a current photo. Only significant addition is the Europier between T1/T2, but even then there were remote parking stands along exactly this alignment, so only the pier structure is new.
The Irish gates of T1 are also new but again remote parking stands were stretched right along here (there's a Viscount on one of them, one of four prop a/c overall). An extension to Pier 5 at T3 is the only other apparent building work, and that has changed the taxiways in that corner quite a bit and given extra stands.
Terminal 3 probably had more 747s then than nowadays. There are 16 of them, including some on remote stands (some things never change!). Of course this was the time when they dominated the transatlantic schedules of BA, Pan Am, TWA, etc.
The road and parking structure appears identical to today.
T4 is obviously a new facility, but otherwise it makes you wonder how Heathrow has fitted in, what is it, triple the traffic from that time.
Looking at the dark areas of concrete where aircraft are not on stand makes you think - did aircraft drop more oil in those days - or are HAL better at keeping it clean now ??!!
In fact so little has changed in a generation. For all that building work over the years, unless you look closely you might think it was a current photo. Only significant addition is the Europier between T1/T2, but even then there were remote parking stands along exactly this alignment, so only the pier structure is new.
The Irish gates of T1 are also new but again remote parking stands were stretched right along here (there's a Viscount on one of them, one of four prop a/c overall). An extension to Pier 5 at T3 is the only other apparent building work, and that has changed the taxiways in that corner quite a bit and given extra stands.
Terminal 3 probably had more 747s then than nowadays. There are 16 of them, including some on remote stands (some things never change!). Of course this was the time when they dominated the transatlantic schedules of BA, Pan Am, TWA, etc.
The road and parking structure appears identical to today.
T4 is obviously a new facility, but otherwise it makes you wonder how Heathrow has fitted in, what is it, triple the traffic from that time.
Looking at the dark areas of concrete where aircraft are not on stand makes you think - did aircraft drop more oil in those days - or are HAL better at keeping it clean now ??!!
AVCP, LHR did not open until 1946, so your grandfather must have had a long wait in that tent! And it had concrete runways - not just a field.
Maybe your grandfather flew from Hounslow - not the same location as Heathrow.
Maybe your grandfather flew from Hounslow - not the same location as Heathrow.
Paxing All Over The World
WHBM: Interesting, when I drive in to the central area, I often look at the buildings and recall the first time I saw them in the mid-60s and the old thrill returns. I have always liked LHR. A bit of a dump it may be, but it's home!
I have the short book by Philip Sherwood Heathrow:2000 years of History and it has some interesting detail.
If that Viscount is on the stand where the Irish and IOM flights are stabled - Gate 12 on the Northerly T1 pier, then it will probably be the IOM service. If memory serves, we had the Viscount right up until 1988 when G-MIMA arrived but I sit to be corrected.
I have the short book by Philip Sherwood Heathrow:2000 years of History and it has some interesting detail.
If that Viscount is on the stand where the Irish and IOM flights are stabled - Gate 12 on the Northerly T1 pier, then it will probably be the IOM service. If memory serves, we had the Viscount right up until 1988 when G-MIMA arrived but I sit to be corrected.
Thread Starter
PAXboy:
The Viscount is where domestic gate 74 is nowadays, on top of the road tunnel. gate 12 is empty.
A Very Civil Pilot:
My hunch would be that your grandfather may well have flown from Croydon, which was London's principal airport and exactly as you describe at that time, until the terminal building on the A23 (still there) was built. There is an excellent book about this period published by Sutton Library (Croydon Airport apparently lay within the borough of Sutton) which describes the airport then.
The Viscount is where domestic gate 74 is nowadays, on top of the road tunnel. gate 12 is empty.
A Very Civil Pilot:
My hunch would be that your grandfather may well have flown from Croydon, which was London's principal airport and exactly as you describe at that time, until the terminal building on the A23 (still there) was built. There is an excellent book about this period published by Sutton Library (Croydon Airport apparently lay within the borough of Sutton) which describes the airport then.
