scenic flying around London from Biggin Hill?
 

Hi,

I wonder what are best / confirmed / usual scenic flight VFR routes around London, taking off from and landing at Biggin Hill? are there usual go - don't-go areas, other than what's visible on the chart? (e.g. avoid CTRs in the area, including London City). is it impossible to fly through the category D airspace around London City?


Akos

Take a helicopter.

Zone entry at Banstead, H7 to Barnes with altitude dropping to below 1,000 ft. H4 along the Thames right through the city of London, with fantastic views all around. Past the Olympic site to Isle of Dogs, then vacate the zone due South, skirt around croydon and back to Biggin. 45 Minutes.

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/7/20100316LondonHeliChart.pdf

Otherwise, close on your doorstep could route overhead Chartwell Visitor information - National Trust (slightly tight for airspace), overhead Hever Castle Hever Castle | Kent | The childhood home of Anne Boleyn and back (15-20 minutes).

Further East, Leeds castle is fantastic from the air Leeds Castle - The Loveliest Castle in the World, Kent, England.

If you go West, you can go overhead Michael Kane's place (edge of Leatherhead), Chelsea's training ground (cobham), then the disused Wisley airfield at Ockham (Wisley Airfield - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and past the semaphore tower Explore Ockham Common, Chatley Heath and the Semaphore Tower | The Wildlife Trusts and Wisley Gardens (Wisley / RHS Gardening) then head South to Dunsfold (Topgear track) before following the vally back to Biggin. 50 minutes.

Enjoy Surrey and Kent

thanks for the tip - but I'm flying a Diamond DA-40, helicopter not an option :)

The Class D airspace for London City is accessible. Now that I've said that, there will follow a series of posts from various contributors giving their opinion whether you should be in there with a SEP or not.

From Biggin, the best scenery is probably along the River Thames and into Kent. You can head North to the QE2 Dartford Bridge (keep the bridge to your left to stay outside of the London City Zone) from where you'll have a good view into the City of London, then follow the Thames East. You can see the port of Tilbury, Henry's fort at Tilbury, Gravesend, the industrial sites of Canvey Island, SS Richard Mongomery (if you can pick it out - it can be done!), the Medway Towns, Southend Pier, Leeds Castle, Dover Harbour and the white cliffs, Hastings, Folkestone, Rye, a bit of the South Coast, then return to Biggin via Bewl Water and Tunbridge Wells.

Flying through LCYs class D in an SEP isn't a problem, there is plenty of greenery about if needed (as well as LCY). Used to transit Luton to Biggin in a PA-28 quite a lot a few years ago.

Main question is whether their traffic will allow it. Maybe give 'em a ring on the landline and ask nicely what the chances are.

SEP forbidden between N/S line through City and N/S line through Heathrow within controlled airspace by permanent Notam some years ago. It's also land clear of the built up area, not land on some patch of grass - or even an airfield - within the built up area......

If SEP banned from a specific area then that's changed in last 10 years or so.

Land clear is an interesting concept as the built up area is almost continuous from Barnet to Biggin. ... my take on land clear is finding a patch of open land big enough; not outside an un-defined boundary line.

It is absurd to suggest that one should not land at an airfield.

Neither a suggestion nor my words. I do suggest that I think you'll find the CAA would deem London City definitely within the built up area, and since single engine aircraft are not allowed to land there (along with many multi-engine types), additionally that no pilot should plan to use it to comply with the land clear rule.

See...

Poor bloke only wanted to know about sightseeing.

jollyrog, thanks for the detailed suggestions

as for the rules on landing and EGLC - yeah I read in the AIP that single engine use prohibited, but then again it would be veeeery strange if they would prohibit use in case of an emergency

but the EGLC landing is irrelevant to my question, the main question was about sightseeing. thanks for the heads up, indeed I guess it would depend on the traffic and approach direction at EGLC.

I fly from Biggin and if you need some company or a tour guide, please let me know.

What the original poster wanted is entirely irrelevant to discussions on Pprune

Jollyrog has it - follow that advice

I agree Jollyrog has a good plan.

Just to add, just past Dover is the BoB memorial, always a good sight from the air, then turn north to Bodiam castle, and on the way have a look at the royal military canel, and then further north over Leeds castle, although watch out for Headcorn.

C23

The best scenic routes are to the east, since to the west it is a bit restrictive between LHR and Gatwick airspace.

Kent in general is quite nice, if you stay away from Maidstone, that is... you cannot go wrong with a general bimble well south of the Motorway there.

Nice places to go to in a 1 hour flight:

• e.g., souteasterly Bewl Water - Leeds Castle
• e.g., east to the River Medway, follow it to the isle of Sheppey [caution, Rochester ATZ], then down to Leeds Castle again

For a longer flight, the absolute best is to go east via Canterbury [nice by day, stunning at night!] to north of Dover, descend to 600ft off the coast [not at night...] and fly along the cliffs [well below clifftop!], climb back inland over Folkestone [but make sure your climb rate is up to it] and return via Ashford [not pretty, but a very interesting looking mall...]

thanks for the tips, I'm already getting to like the idea of flying around there even better :)

one additional question: as the airspace around EGLC is class D, that is, it's a controlled airspace, how specific are you usually when it comes to telling them your planned route within this airspace?

MrAverage

Unless something has changed the notam only applies to non standard flights - this would not be one.

The land clear is another matter of debate between the caa and pilot.

Very specific. If you want a VFR clearance, they will want to know your entry and exit points and route inbetween.

London City is closed from 1200L Saturday until 1200L Sunday. They're not so fussy then, although you must still ask for entry.

City Zone Transits
 

London City is at its busiest between around 7.30-10am and 5.30-8pm Mon-Fri.
Sat mornings are fairly quiet, then very little or no traffic from 12.30pm Sat - 12.30pm Sun (planning regulations), traffic ramps up a bit again in peak hours of Sunday evening.

Best to avoid those peak hours, particularly in a fixed wing, as delays are almost inevitable.

Having knowledge of the VRPs in and around the zone will help (Banbury Reservoir - Three Mills Gasometers effectively defines the Lea Valley, and routes over the Olympic Park....M11 J4 - Beckton Roundabout follows the line feature of the A406 North Circular....Thames Barrier to the south is self explanatory...."Isle of Dogs", whilst not a VRP, is a commonly used holding point over the River Thames at Greenwich).

Knowing the basic IFR traffic pattern also helps...
RW27 arrivals are generally a straight in approach from the east, SID departures all turn to the north abeam the O2 Arena (or "the dome").
RW09 arrivals are mostly downwind righthand (at 2000ft), base leg generally just inside the City zone, before establishing on the ILS near London bridge. SID departures from RW09 turn to the north about 1nm from the end of the runway (abeam restricted area R107).

For North-South or South-North Transits
If LCY is on RW09 the Lea Valley route to/from Isle of Dogs is generally the best (this effectively deconflicts transit traffic from the departures, leaving only the inbounds to contend with).
If LCY is on RW27 the A406 route to/from Thames Barrier is generally the best (again this effectively deconflicts transit traffic from the departures, leaving only the inbounds to contend with).

If holding is necessary fixed-wing aircraft are generally given instructions such as "Hold south of Thames Barrier VRP/Isle of Dogs" or "hold north of Three Mills Gasometers VRP/Beckton Roundabout VRP" due to the larger orbit than helicopters. This helps to protect IFR traffic on final approach from nuisance TCAS RAs.

Oh, and if you're trying to get visual with IFR traffic on approach remember it's a 5.5degree glidepath so they may appear a little higher than usual!

Heathrow Radar freq. 125.625 (first contact), if no joy try Thames Radar 132.7
If LCY is busy expect to be transferred to City Tower 118.075

Feel free to ask me any questions...I'll try and answer as best I can!
Happy landings (although preferably at your intended, not LCY! ;) )

Or you could just fly into Damyns Hall (EGML) (inside the M25 close to the QE2 Bridge) its free landings and fuel is £1.80 and talk to the award wining Deepac (resident instructor there) and he will talk you through flying that bit of airspace to view the dome etc.

PS, singles banned at City not strictly true, I flew a single in and out of there last year :)

I hope that was for the Fun Day!?

It Certainly was :)

I fly my Aztec on a sightseeing tour from Biggin along the Thames most Sunday mornings.

The route is Crystal Palace, Westminster (orbit), St Paul's, Tower (orbit), Docklands, Greenwich, Dome, Olympics, Thames Barrier, Biggin.

I normally do it for charity, as a fundraiser, but would be willing to look at a cost sharing trip if three people fancy it.