Heathrow viewing area

[davrus]

Hi ya

I am going down to heathrow later on in the week to pick my dad up.
He flight is scheduled in at aroun 9 in the morning (terminal 5). I am traveling down from nottingham so i will be leaving early so i dont get caught up in the traffic.

MY QUESTIONS ARE

1 ) The chances are i will be there a few hours before it lands ( as long as it is on time). Is there any where to park up near by where my son and i can have a good view of the planes coming in to land and taking off where we will not have to pay any parking (i,e a layby or something).

2 ) If i was to take my air band receiver radio and tuned it in to heathrow approach will be able to hear his plane (ie will they use the flight number as there call sign or will i not know which is which.

I was planning to park up at terminal 5 car park as he comes in to land or an hour out, to try and save on the parking fee,

If i was to use my radio what should i listen out for to establish my fathers plane and how far out to they contact heathrow approach/radar.

Hope that all makes sense

Thanks for reading

Davrus

[akerosid]

Unfortunately, there are no viewing areas within the terminals. Your best bet is to park the car and 27L is in use, get a tube to Hatton Cross and walk about 200 yards past the BP station (across the road) and there you'll find Myrtle Avenue.

The BAA doesn't encourage spotting and does all it can to make it as difficult as possible.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

Not necessarily a straightforward answer, but ...

1 ) The chances are i will be there a few hours before it lands ( as long as it is on time). Is there any where to park up near by where my son and i can have a good view of the planes coming in to land and taking off where we will not have to pay any parking (i,e a layby or something).

In theory, 'yes, you can park-up somewhere', but I'd recommend somewhere nearby rather than on the airport itself.

At the moment you won't know which runway they will be using, and from which direction they will be landing. Two parallel runways, and flights could land from either end; so you need to investigate somewhere north-east, somewhere south-east, somewhere south-west, and somewhere north-west. In all cases it needs to be 'off airport'. I can think of suitable places aound all four corners of the airport, probably as much as up to 1 mile away, where you can see the aircraft approaching, but you won't see the actual 'touchdown' and taxi-to-the-terminal.

If you're coming down on a weekday I'd suggest arriving very early ... you don't want to be trying to go around the north-western parts of the M25 between 07.30 and 09.00 as the traffic jams will be bad because of road-works. Personally, I'd plan to be there (at Heathrow) for 7am, which would allow for a few traffic delays.

2 ) If i was to take my air band receiver radio and tuned it in to heathrow approach will be able to hear his plane (ie will they use the flight number as there call sign or will i not know which is which.


Almost certainly you should be able to hear it. I can't comment on which frequency they use, either 118.5 or 118.7, but I'm sure others will confirm. That's the 'Tower' frequency, so you will only hear them for the very last few miles before landing, so you may not get much warning of the flight approaching. You have not mentioned which flight it should be - some flights use a different 'callsign', or something unexpected, so that might cause some confusion.

I was planning to park up at terminal 5 car park as he comes in to land or an hour out, to try and save on the parking fee.

Personally not recommended, as you don't want to be paying BAA too much!

My suggestion would be to park-up somewhere outside the airport and listen on your scanner until you hear the flight and see it land. Then, and only then, drive to the T5 car-park and go into the terminal to 'meet-n-greet'. Then, back to the car-park, pay a Kings Ransom for your parking fees, and then off home.

A better suggestion is to arrange for hime to phone you when he's in the Baggage Hall, and has collected his case(s), and then he goes outside the terminal to await for you to drive-up and pick him up. No car-park fees, no problems.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

If they are landing on 27L and you park at approx 51 27.678N 0 25.023W (check it on Google Earth) you can sit there in your car in peace and watch the aircraft landing at very close quarters.

[Skipness One Echo]

Actually you can sit outside upstairs at Terminal 5 and watch the planes land. Just don't look too much like a professional spotter and you'll be fine.

[beamender99]

If they are landing on 27L and you park at approx 51 27.678N 0 25.023W (check it on Google Earth) you can sit there in your car in peace and watch the aircraft landing at very close quarters.


A site I often use. Especially good for T4. Get the call "just leaving baggage" and the drive time is perfect to meet em at the exit.

Have a coffee and fill up the car there and then pop up to the Green
Man to view them under belly. ( always impressive to the newcomers).
But it takes quite a few minutes to get to T5 from there.

It is worth parking for 30 mins (£2.40 ) to have a quick look in T5.
Look out for the green arrows above vacant parking bays in the carpark.
Try out the car locator - pop your ticket / car reg into the machine to get your parking bay number.

[bizchaser]

Davrus

You could just park at the visitors centre on the Northside and wait for it to land then make your way to T5

Rgds

[davrus]

Thanks for all your tips. exactly what i was looking for.

The flight number is BA0068 so that is all i can listen in on, will the first tune in to heathrow approach/radar or do they come strait in on tower a few miles out. If they come strait on to tower who would they be in contact with before hand.

I think this may be the route

DITCH V312 DRIFT J121 HTO PUT WITCH
ALLEX N79B YQX NATU MALOT NATU BURAK UL9
STU UP2 OKESI Y3 BEDEK OCK2F

Thanks for all your advise

[trident3A]

Normally they'll contact Heathrow App on 119.725 /134.975 then director on 120.4 then finally tower on 118.7 / 118.5.

This week if they're on Westerlies it will be 27L until 1500hrs and 27R thereafter.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/assets/B2CPortal/Static%20Files/Heathrow_RunwayAlternation2009.pdf

[PaperTiger]

You could just park at the visitors centre on the Northside...Where parking is NOT free (see post 1). Yeah I know it's not expensive, but still...