One for the oldies...

[woodpecker]

I watched the PanAm 707 land at Northolt by mistake (lined up with the South Harrow gasometer rather than the one in Southall) all those years ago from the school playground. The power that be resorted to twenty feet "NO" for the Northolt and "LH" for Heathrow lettering on the associated gasometers!

Years later landed many times on 23(L) at Heathrow, even landing on 23R in the days when Heathrow had six runways!

I also remember the Trident Groundspeed showing 60kts as we passed over the Southall gasometer during the '87 gale.

Sadly passing through Southall on the "Great Western" yesterday it looked as if the gasometer was in it's death throes, should have been "listed" as a reminder of the part it played in Heathrow's history! (It's sister at South Harrow having been demolished years ago)!

Southall Gasholders (http://www.southallgasholders.com/)

Time marches on...

[Wander00]

Me to, from a window at Harrow County School for Boys.

A fortnight ago 10 of us attended a reunion lunch at the Reform Club. Guest of Honour was one of our French masters. (Think about it, we left the school in July 62!)

[WHBM]

I also remember the Trident Groundspeed showing 60kts as we passed over the Southall gasometer during the '87 gale.
Did the 1987 "hurricane" not transit London between midnight and 6am ?

[rolling20]

Did the 1987 "hurricane" not transit London between midnight and 6am ?
I got off a train from London at my home stop, which was about 35 miles to the east, at around 10pm IIRC. Put my brolly up and it promptly went inside out. Over the next 6-8 hours, my roof and car were destroyed. Got a day off work though.

[treadigraph]

On the eve of the great storm I'd done a round-robin trip to Mildenhall and various other East Anglian airfields with a friend who did the driving. I'd left my bike at his house and as the weather had deteriorated significantly on the way back, asked him to drop me at home as I didn't fancy battling the headwinds cycling home!

[WHBM]

Me to, from a window at Harrow County School for Boys.

A fortnight ago 10 of us attended a reunion lunch at the Reform Club. Guest of Honour was one of our French masters. (Think about it, we left the school in July 62!)
Myself and schoolfriend just about scraped past French, German having been our primary language. Must have been the despair of our French master.

Said schoolfriend much later is now with Airbus, lives in Toulouse, French wife, family talks totally in French. We have discussed just how the old chap would react if he knew !

[Haraka]

IIRC Didn't an Indian Constellation inbound to Heathrow also land at Northolt by mistake in the late 50's or so?

[pax britanica]

I think the IAF Connie incident was not having the wrong heading on approach but the wrong glideslope and had it not been warned off it would have struck Harrow on the Hill. Fairly sure that was the incident .

[treadigraph]

Too low on the approach followed by a near miss with an Olympic 727 on the ILS for 23 at Heathrow. AIB report (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ecc240f0b61342000123/3-1971_BG_579_and_SX-CBB.pdf)...

[Haraka]

Yes, it was an Indian Air Force Connie I was thinking of .Memory plays tricks on how long ago........

[Wander00]

French master (see above) still has a giggle at my living in France, given my two Grade 9 attempts at French "O" Level

[WHBM]

I also remember the Trident Groundspeed showing 60kts as we passed over the Southall gasometer during the '87 gale.

I don't wish to be picky, but wasn't the last Trident flight into Heathrow on 31 December 1985, nearly 2 years before the storm.

[GeeRam]

I think the IAF Connie incident was not having the wrong heading on approach but the wrong glideslope and had it not been warned off it would have struck Harrow on the Hill. Fairly sure that was the incident .

Back in the late 80's/early 90's a guy I worked with was living under the Northolt approach at the time, around where the Connie started it's climb out from nearly taking the top of the Harrow on the Hill spire off, and said he thought the world had ended with the noise it made.
I think the spire got its red light put on top after that incident.

And to the OP, yes, Southall gasometer demolition started about 6-8 weeks ago, and they are now down to the point just below where the LH letters were.

[Brian 48nav]

I started in LL ATC in November 1986 - Tridents had gone by then.

My watch commenced a night duty at 2200 ( or was it 2130 ? ) just before the '87 hurricane. IIRC, when we came in we were on Easterlies and just after the Tower went down to one ATCO for the night he had to ask approach to send someone up to help him 'change ends' as the slight westerly tailwind was becoming a problem. In those heady days we had enough staff rostered so that one lucky person got a 'long sleep' in a quiet room somewhere - that night it was me. When I got my head down, probably just before midnight, we were now on Westerlies and calm prevailed. When I got up just before 6 all hell had broken loose! 23 was in use and 27R had quite a lot of debris blown on to it. Again IIRC a parked aircraft had been blown against a terminal, Lufthansa? The drive back home to Dorset was interesting, though in fact our area suffered more damage in the January '90 storm. Memories a bit hazy as I've literally just arrived home knackered, after a long drive back from France!

[chevvron]

I started in LL ATC in November 1986 - Tridents had gone by then.

My watch commenced a night duty at 2200 ( or was it 2130 ? ) just before the '87 hurricane. IIRC, when we came in we were on Easterlies and just after the Tower went down to one ATCO for the night he had to ask approach to send someone up to help him 'change ends' as the slight westerly tailwind was becoming a problem. In those heady days we had enough staff rostered so that one lucky person got a 'long sleep' in a quiet room somewhere - that night it was me. When I got my head down, probably just before midnight, we were now on Westerlies and calm prevailed. When I got up just before 6 all hell had broken loose! 23 was in use and 27R had quite a lot of debris blown on to it. Again IIRC a parked aircraft had been blown against a terminal, Lufthansa? The drive back home to Dorset was interesting, though in fact our area suffered more damage in the January '90 storm. Memories a bit hazy as I've literally just arrived home knackered, after a long drive back from France!
I went to bed about midnight and didn't emerge until late next morning as I was on a 1pm start at Farnborough, so I slept through it all. Did runway inspection when I got in and there were all sorts of unusual seabirds on the airfield (oystercatchers, cormorants) as well as debris.

[A30yoyo]

Indian Air Force L-1049G landing from the West at Northolt...I suppose the intersection point with Heathrow Runway 10L approach was Eton/Windsor way during Easterlies?https://www.airliners.net/photo/India-Air-Force/Lockheed-L-1049G-Super-Constellation/782271/L

[DaveReidUK]

Indian Air Force L-1049G landing from the West at Northolt...I suppose the intersection point with Heathrow Runway 10L approach was Eton/Windsor way during Easterlies?

If you're referring to the airmiss, it was a westerly day.

The Connie was performing a missed approach on 26 at Northolt while the Olympic 727 was on the ILS for 23L at LHR, roughly overhead Greenford at the time.

[blind pew]

Swissair Airbus was moved towards the terminal but undamaged..El Al had a container hit it iirc or maybe one blew across the runway as it was landing. Mate landed a 747 in 47 knots of wind,,surprisingly smooth.
Essex hit far worse as I was driving to LHR in a Saab 900 wearing a crash helmet with the sky lit up from arcing power cables.. only one emergency radio channel on..got to Wickford from Leigh and did a 180 as A127 blocked..about 5 am..had to drive to Manchester to buy tiles to fix my roof.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

The use of 23. dreaded by ATC was a sign of strengthening SW winds. When it got really bad we'd pack them in around 2nm apart. I saw one of my colleages get one away in a 3nm space!