Heathrow runway change from 28L to 27L

[Amos Keeto]

Hi there,

I am building a scale model of London Heathrow Airport in 1/400th scale as it was in the 1960s. I want to get everything authentic, so need to know when they changed the Runway heading from 28L to 27L? Had there been a magnetic change or wasn't this runway accurately calculated in the first place.

Thanks

Adrian

[clicker]

Hi Adrian,

The change would have been down the the ever shifting magvar, can't remember when it happened but was quite a few years ago (poss in the 1980's?).

[bookworm]

I had in my mind that it was summer 1987, but it might be a year or so out.

HD mentions it here, maybe he can remember the year.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

2nd July, 1987 due to change in magnetic variation. 28R changed to 27R too!

[slip and turn]

Simultaneously?

Twelve paint brushes, maybe? :

Two for blacking out 8's

Two for painting 7's

Two for blacking out 1's

Two for blacking out 0's

Two for painting 0's

Two for painting 9's ?


Or on the first night did they settle for 8 brushes and make do with the 09's offset a bit to the right, then let HD give them a final tug with his Reliant Robin?

[arrffaa]

that's one reason i left!
now look what's happened - block 26 outer / 31 outer / 16 / 17 (all for 28R)
alphas / northern dual / comet corner / rwy 23 / the tens - all GONE!

so, it's right for left and up for down

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Yep - no more long calculations on nights to find the "average block"!!

[Amos Keeto]

We had a wonderful nostalgic thread going on London Heathrow Airport memories that featured my photos of my 1960s scale model. This thread was very useful for gathering material for my model but for some strange reason the mods. closed/locked it.

Now my model is progressing further and I need your help!

Please can anyone kindly answer any of these questions:

1. What the distance is between the runway sidelights on Heathrow's runways?
2. How far from the end of the runway is the first row of lights on the raised CL5B?
3. Does anyone have any close-up photos of the cargo hangars in use at Heathrow in the 1960s? The main hangar had 'HUNTING-CLAN' painted on the north side and SEABOARD WORLD AIRLINES on the south side (I think). I need close-ups and prefearbly any ariel views, as there are plenty of distant shots from the Terminal area on A-Net. There were two other cargo hangars used by Air India and Pan Am, which i would also welcome photos of if possible?

[Talkdownman]

Originally Posted by Amos Keeto

London Heathrow Airport in 1/400th scale as it was in the 1960s

That make it bigger than my garden....

[Amos Keeto]

Well it's only a quarter of it. If the whole airport was modelled, it would be 28ft long!

[Amos Keeto]

Thanks very much Peter. That lets me out from including the first row of lights on my model as that equates to about 2ft from the threshold in 1/400 scale, which is off the model. The r/w sidelights can now be installed 6" apart.

[Minesthechevy]

AMos K -

How long is your project going to take, and will it eventually be on display somewhere...?

[Amos Keeto]

That's a leading question...how long is a piece of string? It will be an on-going project and when it has reached a respectable displayable standard I hope I can display it at a show. I have already been asked to show it in its present form at a Heathrow nostalgia reunion, but transporting it requires a van! Just to remind those reading this of what I am talking about, here are some of the pics on the original thread and in its original form:

[ATCO Two]

OOPS sorry, but Block 86 was not there when 28L was the runway designator! It was built at a later date.

[Amos Keeto]

...and what might 'Block 86' be? Sorry but I am not that knowledgabe about LHR, never worked there and my experience was one or two visit each year throughout the 60s....when I was 12-14!

[ATCO Two]

Block 86 is where the Austrian Caravelle is waiting to line up.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Yes, that wasn't there when I left in '93..

[Amos Keeto]

Ah right, well this is because this layout was based on today's LHR pattern so I could change periods and have BA airliners on it. Then I realised that R/W 27L was 28L in the '60s, so I changed the runway markings but nothing else (call it 'modellers licence. if you like). Now the 'new' layout is based on an accurate photographic image for the period so will not include Block 86. One day I might do a later version, but the '60s gives so much more variety of airliner types to portray - pistons, turboprops and early classic jets.

[Minesthechevy]

Well, it'll certainly keep you out of mischief for a while - congratulations on the quality....

[edinv]

BEA DC3 & DLH B727 meeting together at LHR/EGLL?

LHR/EGLL is not my patch either. I dont remember the BEA DC3s! That said, I think BEA retired the DC3 in May 1962. Last route in H&I over ILY-CAL-GLA. - Well gone from London by then! The DLH B727 is a product of the late 60s.(1966/1967 perhaps?)