Aircraft landing at LHR 0200 30/08/11
 

Hopefully one of you guys will be able to help me on this one. An aircraft flew over my house quite low (3k?) at about 0200 (live near High Wycombe). It was loud and noisy. It's not overly important, but quite unusual as the airport is normally shut at this time. Any ideas? Cheers.

LHR is normally H24. It's just that movements between approx 2330 and 0630 are restricted. In the old days we used to have a few 'Princes of Darkness' who would sneak in and out and wake up the controller, notably the 'Midnight Guards Van' and Iberia 2251 the DC4. Occasionally there was the lighting checker Aero Commander who would stop us nodding off. Have the Noise Police put a stop to all that, then?

I seem to remember reading on the BAA website that, despite it being H24, there were lots of restrictions due to 'environmental' issues. We do get woken sometimes by the 0430 VIR and BA arrivals, but nothing really earlier than this.

What makes you think it landed at LL?

Possible Secret Squirrel flight?

Easy to find out, if it was an inbound to LHR it will show up on BAA's noise website, on their Webtrack virtual radar display. 0200 on the 30th will be available to view tomorrow.

Heathrow noise: Track flights near you with WebTrak

A CPA B744 dep about 0130, maybe it was that?

25. Possibly was. Thanks.

Gonzo. Will have a look tommorrow.

Thanks for ur help.

Just looked. It could only be the CPA. Sounded a lot lower than 7k. Very good site though . :ok:

Talkdownman
 

Respect.....you must also remember the Sagittair Be18 to LSGG [I think]..I used to be an ATCA 3 in Noise monitoring by the Cargo area round the corner from Seaboard World's stands. I recall one night the IB2250 taxied straight across the grass to stand. We've lived through the "Golden Age".....Kar-Air swing tail DC-6...Deux Ponts etc.......now all replaced by things that sound like vacuum cleaner engines on steroids. Noise limit in those days was 110 Pndb day and 102 Pndb by night....with a few discretionary night slots available to accommodate unforeseen delays or extra unplanned movements. Rgds.

Hi 055016K, Lima Alpha, I think, maybe?

Was at LATCC at the time of 'engine fire' Sagittair and 'rough-running' Kar-Air so I'm afraid they were just callsigns from the CCTV Cell at the time. Remember SW CL44s and the AF Deuxes Ponces from SATCC (Which, of course, was adjacent to 'Block 1'). Also the occasional Flamant and Connie etc. Didn't get to LL until the maniacal Compulsory Trawl of '86 so missed seeing a lot of coal burners. It was all 75s then, even the TRIs were on the way out. Get yourself to one of the Heathrow Nostalgia evenings if you haven't done. Lots of real 'Respect' there. You will need two quid to get in and a lot of beer money...

AC relates some great stories about nightshifts and dodgy movements (esp FT9 the 747F with tailstrike...and of course the Chipmunk...)

052015B

Even some of us 'youngsters' know about dodgy movements on night shifts, but they're probably not the same movements you were talking about! :E

Ah, Iberia 2250; "The Prince of Darkness"

"AC relates some great stories about nightshifts and dodgy movements (esp FT9 the 747F with tailstrike...and of course the Chipmunk...)"

Assuming it was the same incident I was the assistant in the tower that night. Remember the FT 747 landing nose high on 28L (as it was in those days), lots of nice fireworks from under the rear fuselage. I think myself AC and a few others went out in Pixie later that night to have a peek at the damage!

Don't know what Gonzo means about dodgy movement on night duties :ok:

....especially as there's no "Four and a half" now...

Obviously he never tried the samosas that one Lighting Op used to bring in.:ooh:

Ah, nostalgia....

Des' Mum's samosas should have be enshrined in the constitution.... how would I have survived without my night-duty Veggie Biryani and Bombay Aloo...?


Come to think of it, how did my co-workers survive after I'd had one...?